Stephen Thompson Doubts Shavkat Rakhmonov Will Strike with Him at UFC 296

Regardless of the outcome of his upcoming clash against Shavkat Rakhmonov, Stephen Thompson is looking forward to having a few battle scars after their fight.

After turning down a booking against Rakhmonov on multiple occasions in the past, “Wonderboy” is slated to meet the undefeated Kazakh sensation with a 100% finish rate at UFC 296 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Dec. 16.

Rakhmonov is heavy -500 betting favorite going into the clash, which could be attributed to his superior grappling skillset. One of the most elite strikers in MMA, Thompson believes “Nomad” will eventually prefer going to the ground against him. However, “Wonderboy” is glad that Rakhmonov is the kind of fighter who Will Hunt for the finish, giving him the opportunity to go out on his shield.

“Now, do I feel like Shavkat is going to stand there bang with me? I don’t think so,” Thompson told Submission Radio. “I think eventually he’s going to shoot. He’s going to shoot in and try to get the fight to the ground, obviously. But he’s still a type of guy to try to finish. And I would rather go out on my shield than just somebody hold me there. You know what I mean?”

Thompson is coming off a stoppage win over Kevin Holland at UFC on ESPN 42 in December 2022. Prior to that, he suffered back-to-back decision losses against grappling aces Gilbert Burns and Belal Muhammad. It is these 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 said. “And when I fought those two fights, with Belal and Gilbert, I was literally walking to the airport [with nothing]. The best feeling is walking through the airport the next day, can barely move, man. People are looking at you like, what did this guy go through last night?

“It’s that feeling that I just went through a battle, a war, and survived. Or, you know, even win or a loss, I’m still here. You have those remnants of the battle of the night before. And I’m gonna get that. And that’s what I’m most looking forward, to be honest, to fight with Shavkat.”