UFC Fight Night 82 results: Stephen Thompson stops Johny Hendricks

Wow. That's the first thing that comes to mind reflecting on the headliner of UFC Fight Night 82. Stephen Thompson, who has been surging in the welterweight division of late, was facing off with by far the biggest challenge of his career - former UFC welterweight champion Johny Hendricks.

And he beat him. Beat him badly, in fact.

Thompson put it on Hendricks right from the very start, throwing his patented array of kicks while mixing in well-timed combos. Hendricks couldn't pull the trigger on much, and he was unable to get his hands on his opponent. He seemed frustrated at times that he couldn't cut off the cage, and that's because Thompson's movement was excellent.

Thompson started accumulating some heavy strikes and Hendricks seemed a bit stunned, backing up into the cage. Wonderboy threw a a spinning kick and unloaded with strikes until Hendricks slumped to the mat. That's where the ref stepped in and the welterweight division gained a new legit contender.

Stephen Thompson defeated Johny Hendricks by KO (strikes), 3:31 of round 1