Hey, you in the back—shut up!
Two-time Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight title challenger and all-around wonderful human being Stephen Thompson makes his final walk to the Octagon against Charles Radtke at UFC 334 this weekend (Sat., Nov. 14, 2026) inside iconic Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Ask virtually any mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter to name the nicest person in the sport, and 99.9 percent of them will probably answer “Wonderboy.”
Seriously, try to find something genuinely
negative written about him.
However, there is apparently one thing guaranteed to make Thompson lose his cool: talking inside a movie theater—even during the approximately 72 hours of previews before the actual film begins.
“He’s the nicest guy ever, truly,” Chris Weidman, Thompson’s brother-in-law, said on the Deep Waters podcast this week. “There is only one time I’ve ever seen him get mad—like curse and use foul language.”
“We were in a movie theater, and there was a group of kids sitting behind us,” Weidman continued. “It was during the previews, and all of a sudden, while we were eating popcorn, he turns around and stares at them. The kids were probably in their mid-20s, and then he said, ‘Shut up! I’m trying to watch this.’”
“The kids said, ‘Bro, it’s the previews,’ and ‘Wonderboy’ was like, ‘I don’t care. You better shut the f—k up.’ He starts cursing.”
Naturally, Weidman was stunned to see the normally mild-mannered Karate master ready to throw down over movie trailers.
“I was like, ‘Man, are you good? Everyone is talking during the previews,’” Weidman said. “Bro, he’s obsessed. He’s so dialed in when he is watching movies, and if anyone takes him out of that, he loses his mind.
“And his dad is the same way,” Weidman added. “They have a movie theater in their house, and if you talk, they just stare at you like you’re ruining their life.”
Thompson later confirmed that he is indeed a stickler when it comes to theater etiquette.
“Shut your butt if you’re in a movie theater,” Thompson told UFC on Paramount. “Don’t be talking around me. Look, I paid for a cinematic adventure, and I’m having one. If you’re talking behind me, oh, we’re going to have some words. If you see me in a theater, shush. Shut it, alright?”
Honestly, Thompson has a point.
Movie theater etiquette is at an all-time low. Is it really impossible in 2026 to put your phone away for two hours—or avoid having an entire conversation with your friend during a three-hour Christopher Nolan epic?
Judging by most theater crowds, the answer is yes.
Therefore, if you happen to see “Wonderboy” when Avengers: Doomsday arrives in theaters next month, keep your voice down and save the commentary for the ride home.
Otherwise, you might receive a spinning wheel kick to the dome before Doctor Doom even appears.
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