Wonderboy dissects Masvidal en route to lopsided decision victory

In a clash of strikers, karate got the upper hand.

Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson submitted a vintage performance to get back in the win column on Saturday, riding his unorthodox striking and stellar range control to a unanimous decision victory over fellow welterweight Jorge Masvidal at UFC 217.

The deadly karateka maintained distance and picked the ever-game Masvidal apart to rebound from his pair of failed bids to dethrone divisional champion Tyron Woodley at UFC 205 and 209.

After a closely contested first round that saw Masvidal connect with leg kicks as Thompson bounced in and out of range and struck in bursts, the latter pulled away in the standup clash during the late rounds. The karate stylist's counters and mixed bag of kicks kept Masvidal honest and all but nullified his offense, allowing Thompson to fight with controlled aggression, most notably putting his foe on his hind parts with a stinging right hand in the second.

Thompson's calculated dissection of Masvidal put him ahead by two rounds heading into the final frame, and despite knowing his counterpart would have to finish him to get his hand raised, the South Carolina native dialed up his output in the final stretch, finding a home for his mitts at will to get the nod by one-sided scores of 30-27, 30-27, and 30-26.

Masvidal suffers his second straight loss on points after mounting a three-fight win streak that earned him a spot in the welterweight top 10 earlier this year. He's now gone 4-4 since moving up from lightweight in July 2015.