UFC 296 main card featured a highly anticipated welterweight bout between Shavkat Rakhmonov and Stephen Thompson.
Shavkat Rakhmonov (18-0 MMA) was looking to keep his perfect record intact this evening in Sin City. ‘Nomad’ had gone a perfect 5-0 inside of the Octagon prior to tonight’s contest, earning stoppage victories in all five of those fights. His most previous effort had of course resulted in a submission win over Geoff Neal at UFC 285.
Meanwhile, Stephen Thomspon (17-7-1 MMA) was returning to action for the first time since earning a TKO victory over Kevin Holland last December. That win had snapped a two-fight losing skid for ‘Wonderboy’, as he had previously suffered decision losses to Gilbert Burns and Belal Muhammad respectively.
Tonight’s ‘Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Thompson’ bout did not result in the fan friendly affair most viewers were hoping for. Shavkat Rakhmonov spent most of the first-round pinning Stephen Thompson against the cage. While he did land some strikes, there wasn’t a ton of action. Round two started off with ‘Wonderboy’ showcasing his crafty kicks, but that proved to be short lived as Shavkat quickly took the fight to the ground. From there, Rakhmonov was able to sink in a rear-naked choke which forced Thompson to tapout.
Official UFC 296 Results: Shavkat Rakhmonov def. Stephen Thompson via submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:56 of Round 2
Check out how the pros reacted to ‘Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Stephen Thompson’ below:
Post-fight reactions to Shavkat Rakhmonov defeating Stephen Thompson at UFC 296:
“Stephen Thompson is a very tough opponent,” Shavkat Rakhmonov said after his latest win. “I’m happy I was able to finish him and I believe I’m worthy of a title shot. I believe the winner of the title fight [at UFC 296], I’m ready to fight him.”
Shavkat Rakhmonov now holds an 18-0 record without a single fight seeing a decision and it’s going to be awfully hard to deny him a welterweight title shot much longer.