Charles Radtke: "I'm like the Jorge Masvidal of my generation" before Wonderboy's last fight
Thompson's UFC 334 opponent says he prefers "the boos versus the cheers". Thompson beat Masvidal at Madison Square Garden in 2017.
Charles Radtke says he is "like the Jorge Masvidal of my generation" as he prepares to face Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson in Thompson's retirement fight at UFC 334 at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.
"I'm like the Jorge Masvidal of my generation. Like, they literally bring me to everybody else's hometown to fight against them, and I've done that my whole career as well too," Radtke said at UFC 334 media day in New York on Wednesday.
"I preferably like being the underdog and having the boos versus the cheers, so this is completely cool for me, man," he added. Radtke said Thompson has a "great understanding of the position of being the good guy and then me being the bad guy."
He said the role came naturally. "I'm the younger brother, right? And so you always had that chip on your shoulder," Radtke said. "I always feel like people are trying to think that I'm gonna lose, right? So it's just fitting for me."
Asked whether he wanted to wreck Thompson's send-off, Radtke said: "Give him, give him his time. He's earned it, right? He's earned the fact that he's in this position."
"I'm, I'm here for one reason. I'm here to compete. I'm not focused on the post-fight speech," he said. "There's a lot of emotions heading into it because this being his retirement fight. This is not my retirement fight. This is my opportunity to provide for my family."
Thompson beat Masvidal himself at Madison Square Garden, winning a unanimous decision at UFC 217 in November 2017.
Thompson, 17-9-1, has said UFC 334 will be the last fight of his career and goes into it on three straight defeats. Radtke, 12-5, is 5-2 in the UFC and has won his last two, most recently a unanimous decision over Francisco Prado at UFC 327 in April.
Thompson v Radtke is on the UFC 334 prelims, which start at midnight UK time on Saturday night on UFC Fight Pass. Ciryl Gane defends the heavyweight title against Josh Hokit in the main event, live on TNT Sports from 2am.
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