James Thompson
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Name | James Thompson |
| Nickname | The Colossus | |
| Association | London Shootfighters | |
| Weight Class | Heavyweight (264 lbs.) | |
| Height | 6' 5" (196 cm.) | |
| Style | Wrestling, Boxing | |
| Birth Date | December 16, 1978 | |
| Fighting Out Of | Rochdale, England / Las Vegas, Nevada, USA | |
| Country | England | |
| James Thompson Pictures | Official Website |
James "The Colossus" Thompson is a British mixed martial artist who competes as a heavyweight. James has appeared in such promotions as Elite Xtreme Combat (EliteXC), PRIDE Fighting Championship, and Cage Rage. He is known for rushing his opponents at the start of the fight.
Contents |
Professional Record
| Record | 17 - 14 - 0 (Win – Loss – Draw) (1 NC) |
| Wins | 10 (T)KOs 6 Submissions 1 Decisions |
| Losses | 11 (T)KOs 2 Submissions 1 Decisions |
| Result | Opponent | Method | Event Title | Date | Round | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | Bob Sapp | Submission (Leg Injury) | SFL 1: Super Fight League 1 | 3/11/2012 | 1 | 1:52 | |
| NC | Mariusz Pudzianowski | No Contest (Judging Error) | KSW 17: Revenge | 11/26/2011 | 2 | 5:00 | Pudzianowski originally declared winner; Should have gone to extension round |
| Win | Mariusz Pudzianowski | Submission (Arm Triangle Choke) | KSW 16: Konfrontacja | 5/21/2011 | 2 | 1:06 | |
| Loss | Yusuke Kawaguchi | Decision (Split) | DREAM.16 | 9/25/2010 | 2 | 5:00 | |
| Loss | Miodrag Petkovic | KO (Punch) | MFC: Milenium Fight Challenge 4 | 6/05/2010 | 1 | 1:01 | |
| Loss | Rob Broughton | KO (Punch) | ZT Fight Night: Heavyweights Collide | 1/30/2010 | 2 | 2:28 | ZT Fight Night Heavyweight Tournament Semifinals |
| Win | Tengiz Tedoradze | TKO (Punches) | ZT Fight Night: Heavyweights Collide | 1/30/2010 | 2 | 2:55 | ZT Fight Night Heavyweight Tournament Opening Round |
| Loss | Alistair Overeem | Submission (Guillotine Choke) | DREAM 12: The Cage of the Rising Sun | 10/25/2009 | 1 | 0:33 | |
| Loss | Jim York | KO (Punch) | World Victory Road Presents: Sengoku 7 | 3/20/2009 | 1 | 4:33 | |
| NC | Steve Bosse | No Contest (Fan Interference) | Strike Box: Titans Fighting | 2/06/2009 | 1 | N/A | |
| Loss | Kevin Ferguson | TKO (Punches) | EliteXC: Primetime | 5/31/2008 | 3 | 0:38 | |
| Loss | Brett Rogers | KO (Punches) | EliteXC: Street Certified | 2/16/2008 | 1 | 2:24 | |
| Loss | Neil Grove | KO (Punch) | Cage Rage 22: Hard as Hell | 7/14/2007 | 1 | 0:10 | Grove took the fight on two-days notice. |
| Win | Don Frye | TKO (Punches) | PRIDE 34: Kamikaze | 4/08/2007 | 1 | 6:23 | |
| Loss | Eric Esch | KO (Punches) | Cage Rage 20: Born 2 Fight | 2/10/2007 | 1 | 0:43 | |
| Win | Hidehiko Yoshida | TKO (Punches) | PRIDE: Shockwave 2006 | 12/31/2006 | 1 | 7:50 | |
| Loss | Jon Olav Einemo | Submission (Armbar) | 2H2H: Pride & Honor | 11/12/2006 | 1 | 4:18 | |
| Loss | Rob Broughton | TKO (Punches) | CR 17: Ultimate Challenge | 7/01/2006 | 3 | N/A | For vacant Cage Rage British Heavyweight Championship |
| Loss | Kazuyuki Fujita | KO (Punch) | PRIDE: Total Elimination Absolute | 5/05/2006 | 1 | 8:25 | |
| Win | Paulo Cesar Silva | TKO (Strikes) | PRIDE: Shockwave 2005 | 12/31/2005 | 1 | 1:28 | |
| Win | Alexandru Lungu | TKO (Punches) | PRIDE 30: Fully Loaded | 10/23/2005 | 1 | 2:13 | |
| Win | Andy Costello | TKO (Punches) | CR 13: No Fear | 9/10/2005 | 1 | 2:33 | |
| Win | Autimio Antonia | KO | UD 2: Urban Destruction 2 | 7/30/2005 | 1 | N/A | |
| Win | Henry Miller | KO (Punch) | PRIDE: Bushido 8 | 7/17/2005 | 1 | 1:21 | |
| Win | Nikolajus Cilkinas | TKO | UD 1: Urban Destruction 1 | 4/10/2005 | 1 | N/A | |
| Loss | Aleksander Emelianenko | KO (Punch) | PRIDE 28: High Octane | 10/31/2004 | 1 | 0:11 | |
| Win | Dan Severn | Decision (Unanimous) | UC 11: Wrath of the Beast | 9/12/2004 | 5 | 5:00 | |
| Loss | Tengiz Tedoradze | TKO (Corner Stoppage) | UC 10: Ultimate Combat X | 6/20/2004 | 2 | 5:00 | |
| Win | Aaron Marsa | Submission (Strikes) | UC 9: Rebellion | 3/28/2004 | 1 | 0:20 | |
| Win | Marc Goddard | KO | UC 8: Retribution | 11/30/2003 | 1 | 0:18 | |
| Win | Richie Cranny | Submission (Arm Triangle Choke) | UC 7: World Domination | 9/06/2003 | 1 | 1:34 | |
| Win | Marc Goddard | Submission (Strikes) | UC 6: Battle in the Cage | 6/14/2003 | 2 | N/A | |
| Win | Will Elworthy | Submission (Forearm Choke) | G&P 2: Ground & Pound 2 | 1/25/2003 | 1 | 4:22 | |
Biography
Thompson grew up in Rochdale, Greater Manchester and later moved to Bristol in 2001. He worked as a bouncer as well as a "debt collector" and "gypsy remover". He also pursued a career in bodybuilding, during which time he used steroids. Thompson took up the sport of Wrestling and competed in a several matches before seeing an MMA match featuring Don Frye, which ultimately inspired him to join MMA.
Early Fighting Career
Thompson began his mixed martial arts career fighting in the British promotion Ultimate Combat (UC). He developed a rivalry with Mark Goddard after their bout in Ultimate Combat 6: Battle in the Cage. Thompson won the bout by Submission (Strikes), but Goddard disputed the result, saying that Thompson had tapped earlier to one of his Armbar attempts. A rematch at Ultimate Combat 8: Retribution resulted in an 18 second KO victory for Thompson. After five straight victories, he faced his first loss to Tengiz Tedoradze at UC 10: Ultimate Combat X. Tedoradze managed to stop Thompson's initial charge and won by TKO (Doctor Stoppage) after the second round. Thompson bounced back with a UC championship bout against Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) veteran Dan Severn at Ultimate Combat 11: Wrath of the Beast. Thompson won the five-round bout by Decision (Unanimous).
Entry into Pride
After defeating Severn, Thompson made his PRIDE Fighting Championship debut and faced Aleksander Emelianenko at PRIDE 28: High Octane. Despite losing the fight in only eleven seconds, he remained with the organization, earning quick victories over Henry Miller, Alexandru Lungu, and Giant Silva. Thompson became known to PRIDE fans for his penchant for rushing at opponents at the opening bell, which became known as "Gong and Dash". During this time, Thompson alternated appearances in Japan with fights in British organizations such as Cage Rage.
Thompson's career took a downturn with three consecutive losses to Kazuyuki Fujita, Rob Broughton, and Jon Olav Einemo. However, he followed up with an upset victory over Olympic Judo gold medalist Hidehiko Yoshida at PRIDE: Shockwave 2006. He next suffered a quick KO loss at the hands of super heavyweight boxer Eric Esch at Cage Rage 20: Born 2 Fight. In his final appearance in PRIDE, Thompson dominated aging UFC veteran Don Frye to a first round stoppage at PRIDE 34: Kamikaze. Thompson followed up with his final appearance in Cage Rage, losing to Neil Grove by KO (Punch) in just 10 seconds. Thompson cited a lack of quality heavyweight training partners for his poor performances, and switched training camps to join Randy Couture's Xtreme Couture.
Entry into EliteXC
Thompson made his EliteXC debut against at the time undefeated fighter Brett Rogers at the EliteXC: Street Certified on February 16, 2008. Rogers knocked Thompson out in the first round. Despite this loss, Thompson followed up with a headlining appearance at EliteXC: Primetime against streetfighting internet sensation Kimbo Slice. Entering the fight with a considerably swollen cauliflower ear, Thompson managed to control the first two rounds with effective ground and pound. However, both fighters came into the third round substantially winded. Kimbo landed several unanswered blows to Thompson's face whilst on his feet, one of which burst his cauliflower ear, prompting the referee to stop the fight and declare a TKO in Slice's favour. The stoppage caused some controversy.
Strike Box: Titans Fighting Controversy
On February 6, 2009, Thompson fought Steve Bosse at Strike Box: Titans Fighting's inaugural event in Quebec, Canada. The event was originally scheduled to be conducted under Strike Box's own rules where only Boxing, takedowns, and standing submissions were allowed, but the rules were not accepted by the province's athletic commission in time for the event. It was therefore instead conducted under MMA rules. Before the event some fighters agreed to fight under Strike Box's proposed rules as a gentleman's agreement, though the referee in charge would not have any choice but to allow ground fighting were it to happen. Thompson, who later claimed to be unaware of the agreement, proceed to take down, mount and ground and pound Bosse, as allowed under MMA rules, after Bosse went for a standing Guillotine Choke at the start of the fight. This caused the attending audience to boo Thompson and the referee, unaware that the fight was technically conducted under MMA rules. Beer cans and eventually chairs were then thrown into the ring, prompting referee Yves Lavigne to stop the match declaring it a no contest.
Fighting in Japan
Thompson's next fight was on March 20, 2009 at Sengoku: Seventh Battle against New Zealand standout Jim York, which he lost by KO (Punch). James then faced Alistair Overeem on October 25, 2009 at DREAM 12: The Cage of the Rising Sun, losing via Guillotine Choke.
ZT Fight Night Tournament
Thompson next competed in a heavyweight tournament back in England. The ZT Fight Night Heavyweight Tournament featured numerous UFC and Cage Rage heavyweight veterans, such as Neil Wain, Joe Vedepo, Rob Broughton and Tengiz Tedoradze.
The tournament took place on January 30, 2010, and Thompson faced off against Tengiz Tedoradze in the opening round, winning by TKO (Punches). In the semifinals he was defeated at the hands of eventual tournament winner Rob Broughton, who ended the fight at 2:28 of the second round by KO (Punch). The two had faced off against one another back in 2006 to determine the Cage Rage British Heavyweight Champion.
DREAM 16
After losing to Miodrag Petkovic by KO (Punch) early in the first round at a Milenium Fight Challenge event in June of 2010, Thompson was announced to return to DREAM on September 25, 2010 at DREAM 16. He was first announced to face off against Ikuhisa Minowa, but then DREAM changed Minowa's opponent, and faced Thompson against Yusuke Kawaguchi. The bout went to the judges score cards, and Thompson lost the fight by Decision (Split), as Kawaguchi beat Thompson to the punch early and often. The loss marked the third time that Thompson had lost three times consecutively.
