James Thompson has a bad taste in his mouth from his last fight. In the first round at Bellator 145 last month, Bobby Lashley shot for a takedown While trying to defend, Thompson went into almost a full split, injuring his leg.
Lashley finished the takedown and poured on big punches. Thompson was done in just 54 seconds via TKO.
Later, the Brit found out he partially tore his hamstring. He doesn't think the victory is anything Lashley should gloat over.
"Don't get me wrong, he won the fight," Thompson told MMA Fighting. "I couldn't have continued. It was just a formality after that. It's just an annoyance. In the press conference after that, he was talking like he won some great victory, like we battled to the death or something."
Thompson (20-15, 1 NC) owns a unanimous decision win over Lashley in 2012 under the Super Fight Legaue banner. He thinks it would only be right for the two men to meet one more time in the Bellator cage.
"[A win like that] wouldn't satisfy me," Thompson said. "But he was so happy with himself and he was on to the next thing. I'm sure that we'll kind of run into each other again down the line. I've just gotta bide my time and I'm sure we'll get another rematch."
Thompson, 37, will be busy over the holidays. He's traveling to Japan to fight Tsuyoshi Kohsaka at the Rizin Fighting Federation event on Dec. 29. Thompson has fought nine times in his career in Japan for three different organizations: PRIDE, DREAM and Sengoku.
"Colossus" considers Japan like a second home and wanted badly to fight there again. So much so that he barely trained leading up to the fight due to the hamstring injury. Thompson said he did yoga to rehab the tear and is feeling better. But without a training camp, he's somewhat uncertain even though Kohsaka (28-18-2) has not fought in almost 10 years.
"I am a little bit worried in that respect," Thompson said. "But I can't dwell on it. I want to fight in Japan."
The money won't hurt, either. And Thompson thinks he has some money fights in Bellator coming up, too. Kimbo Slice said at a recent Bellator media day that a fight with Thompson was possible for him in February before he was given street-fighting rival Dada 5000.
Thompson thinks if he beat Lashley, he would have faced Slice at Bellator 149 on Feb. 19. But "Colossus" also doesn't think it matters either way. Slice beat Thompson by third-round TKO for EliteXC in 2008. The fight was competitive and infamous due to Thompson's bloody, exploding ear.
"Personally, I think they will give me that fight," Thompson said. "They'll give me that fight anyway. But will it make it easier to promote the fight if I would have won? Obviously. You could build it up."
Thompson has Kohsaka next and that Slice rematch could still come together. He's "sick of talking about" Lashley right now, but also thinks that trilogy bout will happen eventually. He won't be forgetting Lashley demeanor after Bellator 145 any time soon.
"It really annoyed me," Thompson said. "He shot for a great takedown and got it. What happens happens. One of the questions asked him was, did you expect to finish it so quickly. He was like, 'Yeah, James comes out so hard and I was ready for that.' C'mon."