Stephen
Thompson wants to go out by giving another fighter the type of
opportunity he once received.

The longtime
Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight contender is
scheduled to face Charles
Radtke in his retirement bout at UFC
334 on Nov. 14 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Thompson has explained his reasoning for accepting a fight against
the unranked welterweight.

Stephen Thompson wants to give Charles Radtke the opportunity
veterans once gave him

“Wonderboy†explained in an interview with Full Mount MMA that he
wants to leave the door open for a new wave of fighters. Thompson
believes he would not have become a perennial presence in the
welterweight rankings if established fighters had not given him
similar opportunities earlier in his career. He now wants to give
Radtke the chance to work his way up the rankings.

“Why not go out with a chance to give these other guys an
opportunity to work their way up?†Thompson said. “I wouldn't have
made it where I am today, especially being in the Top 5 – Top 10
for so long, if it wasn't for the guys giving me the shot. Radtke
has got tremendous potential; he is good everywhere. Why not give
this guy a chance to, if he beats me, move up the rankings?â€

Thompson has won four times since his back-to-back unsuccessful
welterweight title bids against Tyron
Woodley in 2016-17. He is currently on a three-fight losing
streak, with his most recent victory coming in 2022. Meanwhile,
Radtke is 5-2 in the UFC, with his losses coming against Mike Malott
and Carlos
Prates.

🫡 Stephen
Thompson says he wanted to make a veteran move and give
Charles
Radtke an opportunity to climb the rankings:

“Why not go out with a chance to give these other guys an
opportunity to work their way up.

Radtke's got tremendous potential, he's good everywhere. And if he…
pic.twitter.com/93VJrZmmiS

— Full Mount MMA (@MMAFullMount)
September 30, 2026

Payton
Talbott believes he has become a more complete fighter during
his Octagon hiatus.

Talbott defeated former
Ultimate Fighting Championship two-division titleholder
Henry
Cejudo in his most recent outing in December. The bantamweight
prospect returns to action at UFC
332 on Oct. 3 after spending much of the year focused on
training while waiting for his next fight.

Payton Talbott explains what changed before facing Deiveson
Figueiredo

Talbott, who faces former flyweight champion Deiveson
Figueiredo on Saturday at Delta Center in Salt Lake City, said
the extended time spent working on his game allowed him to reinvent
aspects of his fighting style.

“Yeah, it was kind of weird,†Talbott told the UFC when asked about
his nine-month hiatus. “This is all still new to me, so I tried to
just stay training and just stay ready. I mean, I trained pretty
much the whole year, and I feel like I kind of reinvented myself a
little bit and went back to my roots, went inward.â€

Talbott explained that his evolution has involved collecting
techniques and lessons while making sure he doesn't lose the
qualities that made him successful in the first place.

“You go and train out of town, and you pick people’s brains and
sometimes you take things from them and implement them into your
game,†Talbott added. “But a lot of the times, the reason you got
where you are is because of you. And so, you just have to correctly
learn how to implement it and not let it fully change you, but just
use the best of what you learn.â€

“I kind of reinvented myself.â€

Payton
Talbott (@PaytonTalbott)
made the most of his time since his last fight and is excited to
test himself against another former champion in Deiveson
Figueiredo. #UFC332

Fight by Fight Preview âž¡ï¸: https://t.co/Sw9Lgv3uJ3 pic.twitter.com/Zk2RhHK9vV

— UFC News (@UFCNews)
September 30, 2026

Ateba
Abega Gautier wears his battle scars with pride.

Gautier is scheduled to face Roman
Kopylov (15-5) in an
Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight bout at UFC
332 on Oct. 3 at Delta Center in Salt Lake City. The rising
contender understands that physical damage comes with the territory
in combat sports.

Ateba Gautier embraces his battle scars before facing Roman
Kopylov at UFC 332

The Cameroonian believes those concerned with preserving their
appearance might want to reconsider a career in combat sports.
Gautier considers the scars on his face badges of honor.

“Don't fight if you want to stay clean,†Gautier told the UFC. “If
you want to look pretty, don't fight. Because there's always
someone in front of you who wants to look dirty. And he wants you
to look dirty as well. So, I'm not there to look clean. I have
scars on my eyebrows. These are gold… I'll never get rid of them.
So, why are you fighting? To be a model? No, I didn't choose to be
a model. I chose to be a fighter.â€

Gautier (11-1) has finished four of his five UFC opponents so far,
three of them in the first round. Meanwhile, Kopylov is 7-5 in the
UFC and has shared the Octagon with several established
middleweights. The Russian is coming off a victory over Marco
Tulio, rebounding from consecutive losses to Paulo Costa
and Gregory
Rodrigues.

“If you want to look pretty, don’t be a
fighter.â€

Ateba Gautier (@AtebaGautierMMA) is embracing the fire as he steps
up to fight Roman
Kopylov and hopes to make it a “dirty” fight on October 3.
#UFC332

Fight by Fight Preview âž¡ï¸: https://t.co/Sw9Lgv3uJ3 pic.twitter.com/cXiKsnR7rY

— UFC News (@UFCNews)
September 30, 2026