UFC’s Wonderboy Thompson Says He Won’t Join BKFC
His comments still stand, but his career has moved on: Thompson announced that his next bout, scheduled for November 2026, would be his retirement fight.
Thompson’s answer about Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship was a clear no, even in the hypothetical that kicks were permitted. On the podcast, he said he was not “Mike Perry” and described bare-knuckle fighters as a different breed. When Perry pointed out that Thompson’s kicks are a major strength, Thompson replied that he still did not think he could do it if kicking were allowed. MMA Knockout on Sports Illustrated transcribed the exchange; BJPenn also reported the podcast discussion.
What Thompson actually said
The podcast conversation began after Thompson attended a BKFC event in Greenville, South Carolina, where promotion president David Feldman asked when his fighting contract would expire. Thompson recalled shutting down the idea immediately. His response was personal and direct: he said the bare-knuckle format was not for him. He did not give a detailed medical explanation or say that the choice came from a specific health assessment.
The rules help explain the hypothetical. BKFC’s published rules allow punches as the strikes and prohibit kicks, elbows, knees, and grappling. Thompson is known for using kicks in mixed martial arts, but he did not say that access to those techniques would change his answer. Perry raised the possibility; Thompson rejected it anyway. That distinction is what the headline refers to.
His later fight record
When the original story appeared in February 2025, Thompson was coming off losses to Shavkat Rakhmonov in December 2023 and Joaquin Buckley in October 2024. He later fought Gabriel Bonfim in Nashville on July 12, 2025. Bonfim won a split decision, with the official cards reading 28-29, 29-28, and 29-28. The official scorecards and Thompson’s fighter record document the result.
As of this October 2026 update, Thompson is scheduled to face Charles Radtke on November 14 at the promotion’s Madison Square Garden event in New York. MMA Fighting reported the matchup as Thompson’s retirement bout. It is a future booking at the time of writing, so the outcome is not yet known. This gives a current endpoint to the story: Thompson declined BKFC and is set to make his final appearance in the promotion where he built his mixed martial arts career.
A firm preference, not a claim about risk
Thompson’s bare-knuckle comments were not a retirement announcement. In 2025 he said he was not interested in switching formats, while continuing his career in the welterweight division. His later schedule now points toward a planned farewell fight, but it does not change what he said about BKFC: even if kicks were allowed, he did not want to compete there. Readers can hear his striking style in the embedded Thompson–Kevin Holland bout above, an official full-fight upload from the promotion’s verified YouTube channel.
