What a week it has been for Stephen Thompson.

Having watched Tyron Woodley win the UFC welterweight belt after beating Robbie Lawler last Saturday night, the legitimate number #1 contender has been cast aside by the new champion who announced within 30-minutes of his win that he was only after 'money fights'.

Suffice to say, Thompson has not been too happy since hearing this news and speaking on the Sam Alvey Pound-For-Pound podcast last evening, he recalled how Daniel Cormier and Dominick Cruz had been encouraging him to 'call him out' the winner.

"I was fairly nervous because I knew I wanted to call out the winner but I wasn't sure how I was going to do it," Thompson said. "I was getting more nervous and more nervous as the time went on because it was getting close to the time and I wasn't really sure who was going to win.

"I'm not a confrontational guy at all, I hate it actually. But, when you got Dominick Cruz and Cormier in your ear saying 'you got to call this guy out' saying this is the time man, this is your time to call him out' I was like 'stop it, leave me alone I'm figuring it out'. I then ended up saying it and I sounded like a goober calling him out because I'm not a mean guy.

"I was just like 'hey man what do you think about you and me in Maddison Square Garden' and then he was like, Nah man, no, I want a money fight."

Of course, this wasn't something that pleased Thompson and he made it known just how surprised and disgusted he was with the new champion.

"In my head, I was laughing like 'Are you kidding me?'" Thompson said. "You literally have had the belt around your waist for thirty minutes and you're telling the number one contender 'no' and that you want a money fight? If it was like your fourth fight or if you had defended it a few times then maybe right but now?

"It upset me you know and then Cormier is like looking at me like 'you gotta call him out again, you gotta bring it back, I'll feed it back to you'. It then goes back on Cormier and he's making sparks fly and oh my goodness--it was fun though."

Thompson then laid out why he believed that he was worthy of the next title shot above anyone else in the welterweight division.

"I believe I've earned it more than anyone in the division," Thompson said. "Especially after all the stuff he went through after his last fight. He was the number four ranked guy in the division and he then waited 18-months saying 'I deserve it, I deserve it, I deserve it'. There's no one else in the division than myself. I think I did what the fans wanted and what the UFC wanted he just tells me flat no. 

"Some people say that he didn't deserve that shot but he got it anyway, Robbie gave it to him. I dunno man, it's crazy."

Thompson then said what he would've done if he was in Woodley's shoes and unsurprisingly, he was adamant that the legitimate number #1 contender should be the next in line. 

"I'm in the business to be the best fighter," Thompson said. "The money is a bonus thing for and if I was in his situation it would be the guy most deserving in the division. I'm here to face the best guys and my Dad can vouch for me that I'm a straight up guy and that I want to do things the right way. 

"You're the champion and there's a number one guy there for a reason--so that's the guy that you got to face. You defend that belt a few times and then perhaps we can talk about a money fight. That's what I believe. Fighting honorably and doing the right thing is what it's all about. That's what martial arts is all about."