Stephen Thompson has previously dismissed a callout from Shavkat Rakhmonov, citing the surging Kazakh's grappling skillset.
Rakhmonov recently notched his fifth straight stoppage victory inside the octagon, defeating Geoff Neal at UFC 285, extending his perfect record to 17-0. 'Nomad' reiterated his callout to Thompson in the aftermath of his UFC 285 win.
Rakhmonov put on a gritty performance against Neal, primarily using his stand-up against 'Handz of Steel' after failing to secure takedowns. The Kazakh phenom absorbed quite a few heavy blows on the night, but returned fire and hurt Neal with strikes of his own, showing that he isn't just a grappler.
Replying to a tweet from Rakhmonov soon after UFC 285, Thompson wrote:
"All due respect to you and your great performance but 0/4 on takedowns doesn’t make you “not” a grappler! Congrats on your victory! Let’s not forget you won by submission! But much love! ????????????????"Shavkat Rakhmonov tied heavyweight contender Serghei Pavlovich for the longest active finishing streak with his UFC 285 win over Geoff Neal. Currently ranked No.9 on the welterweight ladder, 'Nomad' also issued a callout to Colby Covington in his post-fight octagon interview.
Why doesn't Stephen Thompson want to fight Shavkat Rakhmonov?Stephen Thompson returned to winning ways with his TKO win over Kevin Holland in December. Prior to that, 'Wonderboy' suffered almost identical decision losses back-to-back against Belal Muhammad and Gilbert Burns, two seasoned grapplers who imposed their will on him, taking him down repeatedly.
Before his fight against Holland, Thompson was apparently offered Shavkat Rakhmonov. 'Wonderboy' minced no words in dismissing the idea, admitting that he needs to better his grappling to take on a wrestling-heavy opponent like Rakhmonov. The 40-year-old told BJPenn.com in a previous interview:
“It doesn’t make sense for me to face another heavy grappler. Let me work on my craft a little more, especially when it comes to wrestling."The former title challenger added:
“They [UFC] were pushing it, but it just doesn’t make sense, the fans didn’t want to see it either. They are like, ‘Dude, give Stephen a striker, someone who is going to strike with him.’ It is what it is, that is not a fight that interests me at this point.”Catch Stephen Thompson's comments below:
Edited by C. Naik
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