- Stephen Thompson speculated on Shavkay Rakhmonov’s game ahead of UFC 296
- “Wonderboy” admitted he will be gunning for a showdown with Leon Edwards next
Stephen Thompson gave his honest take on what he expects from Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 296. As early as now, “Wonderboy” is also already thinking about calling out Leon Edwards.
Shavkat is like Rory not Nate
Speaking to Submission Radio, Thompson broke down Rakhmonov’s game and thoroughly assessed his upcoming opponent’s style. For “Wonderboy,” “Nomad” is not a “volume” fighter like Nate Diaz but more of a Rory MacDonald type.
“I think he’s very good. I mean he’s very good at what he does,” Thompson said of Rakhmonov. “He predominantly keeps his left side forward which is good. He’ll throw spin kicks. He likes to eat space but not crazy not like Vicente Luque come running at you. I think he’s going to be trying to eat my space walking me down but very cautiously. He’s going to look for his openings. He’s not a volume fighter he’s not a guy kind of like Nate Diaz that kind of goes out there and just beats you with volume. He picks his shots which tells you that he’s very calculative out there. He’s waiting for you to swing and miss and he’s going to try to capitalize.”
“He uses his striking and his clinch work which predominantly where he takes his opponent down and gets him to the cage from the clinch very well,” he continued. “What makes him good isn’t the fact that he’s got good striking or good grappling but he’s able to put it together very well so to speak. So kind of brings me back to the Rory McDonald vibes when I fought him.”
It should’ve been Kamaru
Thompson lifted the lid on why he ended up facing Rakhmonov now and not before. According to “Wonderboy,” he was looking forward to fighting Kamaru Usman following the “Nigerian Nightmare’s” callout but he realized the UFC has other plans for the former welterweight champ.
“When they had asked me to fight him before, this was a few years ago, I said no just because I didn’t know who he was,” Thompson said. “He was fairly new on the scene, I was still in the Top 5. There were guys that were more deserving of that shot than him at the time. But since then, since I first heard his name, I kept watch. I kept my eye on the guy, and the dude’s a beast,” Thompson revealed.
“I mean, to see what he did to Neil Magny and to Geoff Neal, who I faced before. Which was a great fight, to be honest with you. Him finishing with that good old bulldog choke at the very end. The dude’s a beast. He’s undefeated, he’s got a hundred percent finish rate, and it just made sense at the time,” he continued.
“I wanted somebody ranked higher than me because I’ve been fighting guys who are ranked behind me for the past few years,” he added. “Understandable. But I was like, I got a small window to kind of do what I want to do with the fight game, and I want to fight someone in the top five. And they said Shavkat. Because for a second there, it was Kamaru Usman. Cause remember, he called me out. And I was like, man, I wasn’t able to fight in July because of that whole debacle with my opponent not making weight.”
“And then you had Usman call me. I’m like, dude, what better fight than to fight the number-one contender. I beat this guy, then I get another title shot. But obviously the UFC had different plans for Usman.”
Leon is next no matter what
If he ends up winning, Thompson already has his eyes locked on Edwards. The way he sees it, “Rocky” will retain his title against Colby Covington and if that would mean he’s facing Edwards for the welterweight strap then be it.
“100%! the guy that I’m going to be calling out is whoever is champ,” Thompson admitted. “And I believe it’s going to be Leon so it’s not for the title, I’m not going out there calling out you know I want the next title shot. I want whoever champ if it’s if you know and as of right now before that fight, it’s going to be Leon so I’m gonna be calling out Leon.”
Thompson will be looking to follow up his win over Kevin Holland at UFC Orlando last December. On the other hand, Rakhmonov is coming in trying to prolong his unbeaten record.
UFC 296 will take place on December 16 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Check out Thompson’s full interview below:
