UFC 154 Update: Welterweights Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson, Besam Yousef to Meet in Montreal

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Welterweight kickboxing stylist Stephen Thompson will return to the Octagon at UFC 154, when “Wonderboy” will lock horns with Swedish talent Besam Yousef.

Promotion officials announced the news Tuesday during Fuel TV’s “UFC Tonight.” UFC 154 is expected to be headlined by a welterweight title unification bout between Georges St. Pierre and Carlos Condit and airs live on pay-per-view. The Nov. 17 event takes place at the Bell Centre in Montreal and marks the promotion’s first trip to Quebec in nearly two years.

Thompson enters the cage following the first loss of his MMA career, as the American was outpointed by veteran Matt Brown at UFC 145 in April. The karate practitioner had won six straight fights prior to that defeat, capping the stretch with a “Knockout of the Night” winning performance in his February UFC debut against Dan Stittgen. Thompson stopped Stittgen with a first-round head kick at UFC 143, turning out his fellow debutant’s lights in just 4:13.

Yousef did not fare as well in his first Octagon foray. Undefeated at the time, the Syrian-born Swede was submitted by Norwegian grappler Simeon Thoresen at UFC on Fuel TV 2, falling via second-round rear-naked choke in front of a partisan Stockholm crowd. Yousef fought exclusively for Swedish promotion The Zone FC before joining the UFC, racking up five finishes in six outings.