Latest news with #JoshThomson
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Khamzat In Danger Of UFC 319 ‘Fraud Check'
Khamzat Chimaev is currently ranked No. 3 at 185 pounds and widely-expected to earn the next crack at defending middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis, assuming 'Borz' can make it to fight night without another mysterious medical malady. Don't worry, matchmakers have a backup plan. Advertisement Chimaev's 'special' rise to the top, which included a pit stop at 170 pounds, came with a considerable amount of hype, to the point where fight fans were calling for a potential title shot after just two fights under the UFC banner. Former UFC lightweight, Josh Thomson, wants to pump the brakes. 'How bad is he ... or is he good? We're gonna find out when he fights DDP,' Thomson said on We Want Picks. 'I've said this for the longest time, the sample size is not big enough for me with Chimaev. It's just not big enough. Are we giving him too much credit? Everyone's like, 'Oh, he's muslim, he's got the beard, he can wrestle.' Are we giving him the Khabib credit? No one is like Khabib [Nurmagomedov], nobody is like Islam [Makhachev]. We associate the two things, they are not the same. Khabib didn't get tired. Is [Chimaev] as good as we think? Or we getting a fraud check here with DDP?' Thomson argues the 31 year-old Chimaev (14-0) has been able to capitalize on favorable circumstances, like a washed-up Gilbert Burns, hot-and-cold Kevin Holland, short-notice Kamaru Usman, and even the grill-challenged Robert Whittaker, who already had existing teeth issues. Advertisement 'He's fantastic when he's fresh, but we've seen him wilt in rounds two and rounds three,' Thomson continued. 'He got dropped by Gilbert Burns [at UFC 273] and look at Gilbert since they fought, he can't seem to buy a win right now. So is he as bad or is he as good as people wanna make him? I don't think he's as good as people want him to be. He's fantastic when he's the hammer, I'm not denying that, but what is he like when 'boom' all of the sudden he gets cracked? Is Chimaev that guy, does he fold? Does he break? I'm leaning more towards he does.' We'll find out at UFC 319 this summer in Chicago. More from
RNZ News
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- RNZ News
Fast Favourties with comedian Josh Thomson
media arts 38 minutes ago Josh Thomson has been in Wellington with his comedy festival show Old Mate which travels to Tamaki Makaurau this coming week. In his new set, he's coming to grips with his mortality, being a middle-aged parent and realising he's no longer the cool young buck he thought he'd always be. The comedian and actor has appeared across both New Zealand and international films and television including Gary of the Pacific, Wellington Paranormal, The Office - Australia, 7 Days, The Project NZ and won awards for his show webseries Subject Dad. He joins Culture 101 for Fast Favourites.
NZ Herald
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
Cultural Attaché: Josh Thomson
Timaru-born actor and comedian Josh Thomson puts aside his regular screen appearances on the likes of 7 Days, the Australian version of The Office and Taskmaster New Zealand, which he also directs, to deliver his new stand-up show Old Mate at the NZ International Comedy Festival. As a warm-up, he
USA Today
14-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Josh Thomson shares biggest issue with modern-day fighters compared to his era
In a lot of ways, look: Josh Thomson is just gettin' to that stage of life. Thomson turned 46 this past fall. There's a stereotype that exists of the generation ahead complaining about the generation behind. And conversely, the younger generation is pigeon-holed as having it all figured out compared to the geezers before them. Thomson just passed eight years since his final fight at Bellator 172. He's now spent more time as an MMA analyst and in the broadcast booth since he retired than the average length of most MMA careers. Add to that a 16-year fighting career, a major-promotion title and more than 30 fights, and Thomson has enough bona fides, by far, to have some opinions. When he sees the fighters coming up, there's one thing that stands out to him. 'For me, it's the entitlement,' Thomson recently told MMA Junkie Radio. 'It's the entitlement of they 'deserve' more money. They 'deserve' things most of them haven't really earned yet. They just feel it should be handed to them. I think everyone needs to earn it.' Thomson started his pro career in 2001 and was in the UFC by his sixth fight. His disclosed pay for that bout, a first-round knockout of Gerald Strebendt, was $4,000 – $2,000 to show with a $2,000 win bonus. Things have changed plenty in nearly a quarter-century, of course. Starting pay is four, five, six times higher than that now at the base level. But the internet was barely a thing when Thomson started – forget about social media. Thomson wonders if the current generation could do more to not take for granted the luxuries they have now. And what's worse, as an analyst he said he often sees fighters taking the safe and easy way out. 'Beyond me, the BJ Penns, the Randy Coutures, the Frank Shamrocks, all those guys laid the way, but they were getting paid peanuts,' Thomson said. 'Now a lot of (fighters) just feel that they deserve it. 'It's hard because I look at guys and I think to myself they could fight so much harder. They could leave it all out there. A lot of them are looking for ways out and sometimes are not fighting to their potential. That's the hard part as a fighter is just knowing that they have it. I can't say what it is.' Check out Thomson's full interview in the video above.
