Stephen Thompson revealed he settled his situation with the UFC regarding his canceled fight against Michel Pereira.
Earlier this year, ‘Wonderboy’ was scheduled to fight Michel Pereira on the UFC 291: Poirier vs. Gaethje main card. Unfortunately, Pereira missed weight by three pounds, and Thompson denied a change to catchweight to avoid having a disadvantage.
Following UFC 291, Thompson revealed he wasn’t paid his show money despite Pereira being the one who missed weight.
As a result, a debate sparked in the MMA community about whether or not ‘Wonderboy’ should’ve been paid even though he didn’t fight and denied the proposed catchweight bout.
Stephen Thompson recently spoke with MMA Fighting and had this to say about an agreement being reached to settle the UFC 291 situation:
“That was all wild and crazy. Me and the UFC, and my management, we’ve settled everything. So everything’s great…We settled with something we were both happy with, and that was it.” – Quote transcribed by MMA Fighting
‘Wonderboy’ continued by explaining why it took several months before he and the UFC agreed on a solution:
“It took a little bit because they have a business and a lot of stuff going on — and so have I. So my managers have been taking care of everything. But, yeah man, I was happy with everything, with what the UFC has done for me, and we got away from this last fight with a smile on our faces.” – Quote transcribed by MMA Fighting
Stephen Thompson looks to “prove himself” against undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov
The fallen-through matchup with Michel Pereira is official in the past as Stephen Thompson prepares for his next opponent. On November 16, ‘Wonderboy’ looks to secure his second consecutive win when he faces undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov on the UFC 296 main card.
While speaking with MMA Fighting, Thompson had this to say about wanting to prove himself against the rising welterweight contender from Kazakhstan:
“Not only is he ranked above me, he’s one of the scariest dudes in the UFC right now, especially in the welterweight division — undefeated, 100 percent finish rate, super strong, super tough. Now is the time, I think, to prove myself.” – Quote transcribed by MMA Fighting
Stephen Thompson last fought in December 2022, defeating Kevin Holland by fourth-round TKO to end a two-fight losing streak.
Meanwhile, Shavkat Rakhmonov holds a professional MMA record of 17-0, including five fights in the UFC, with every win inside the distance. He’s coming off a statement-making third-round submission against Geoff Neal in March.
