Stephen Thompson has torn his MCL but he wants to fight Robbie Lawler at Madison Square Garden in November.

Stephen Thompson is coming off the back of a controversial loss to Darren Till at UFC Liverpool, but he’s not dwelling on the past.

“Wonderboy” lost via unanimous decision in Till’s own backyard and suffered a knee injury midway through the second round after the Englishman landed a kick to the area.

Speaking on the Slip n’ Dip podcast this week, Thompson recalled how the injury occurred and went on to reveal that he’d torn his MCL.

“In the second round he was really focused on kicking me in the knee,” Thompson said. “He ended up hitting me in the knee, hyper-extending my knee and I ended up tearing my MCL. “So in the fight, all the knee I had the injuries on, I’ve had four surgeries on my left knee and two on my right. “About ten years I tore every ligament in my left leg and so after he hit it, I could feel some crunching going on so I backed up and I shook it off. “I don’t think I should’ve done that because I think he realized that he was hurting me so he kept going for it.”

Thompson has a long history of knee injuries and once missed the best part of three years following a surgery. This time however, Thompson doesn’t think he will spend so long on the sidelines and he’s aiming for a return at the back end of the year.

“They told me six to eight weeks minimum,” Thompson said. “I’m taking it easy on my knee, but I’m still back into training, sitting in a chair and hitting the bag man. “I’m always keeping ice on my leg, so hopefully by the end of the year I will have something set up. “That’s with my fingers crossed, that’s what I want.”

Having just fought the #7 in the division and seen his ranking drop from #1 to #3, Thompson is hoping to face a higher ranked opponent when he does return.

Whilst not breaking his usual character and going so far as calling someone out, Thompson did call for a showdown with Robbie Lawler in November at Madison Square Garden.

“I dunno man, I want to fight someone in the top 5,” Thompson said. “I got bumped down to #3. You got Robbie Lawler, hopefully, maybe things will just right because I know he had knee surgery a few months back so hopefully things will go just right and the timings work out so we could face each other or something. “I got fans all the time asking me ‘why don’t you fight Robbie Lawler?’ I think, I got a lot of respect for him and it would be a barnburner. “He’s just stands there and wants to bang it out. I love fighting guys like that — without getting hit in the knee of course.” “Hopefully we can get that shot at MSG, that would be sick.”

Watch the full episode of the Slip n’ Dip podcast with Matthew Wells and Kendrick Johnson right here: