Stephen Thompson, regardless of the outcome of his upcoming clash against Shavkat Rakhmonov, is anticipating a few battle scars. He’s looking forward to the fight, eager to face the challenge head-on.
After previously turning down a booking against Rakhmonov on multiple occasions, “Wonderboy” is now set to face the undefeated Kazakh sensation. The fight is scheduled for UFC 296 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Dec. 16. This time, Thompson is ready to take on Rakhmonov, who holds a 100% finish rate.
Rakhmonov is a heavy -500 betting favorite going into the clash. This favoritism could be due to his superior grappling skills. Thompson, one of the most elite strikers in MMA, believes “Nomad” will prefer to take the fight to the ground.
However, “Wonderboy” is glad that Rakhmonov is the kind of fighter who will hunt for the finish. This gives him the opportunity to go out on his shield. “Now, do I feel like Shavkat is going to stand there and bang with me? I don’t think so,” Thompson stated in an interview with Submission Radio.
Thompson is coming off a stoppage win over Kevin Holland at UFC on ESPN 42 in December 2022. Before that, he experienced back-to-back decision losses against grappling aces Gilbert Burns and Belal Muhammad. These are the kinds of losses “Wonderboy” wants to avoid, where he doesn’t even have the satisfaction of having put up a fight.
“One of the worst feelings that I have, is after a fight, walking through the airport and not having a bump or a bruise or an ache to show the battle that I had the night before,” Thompson confessed. He further explained that after his fights with Belal and Gilbert, he felt like he hadn’t even been in a battle.
The best feeling, according to Thompson, is limping through the airport the next day, showing the world the remnants of the previous night’s battle. Win or lose, he’s still standing. And he’s looking forward to getting that feeling back when he fights against Shavkat.