UFC 296 video: Shavkat Rakhmonov calls for title shot after choking out Stephen 'Wonderboy' Thompson

17/12/2023 05:42

Shavkat Rakhmonov remained undefeated and became the first person to submit Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson in their featured fight at UFC 296.

While he's shown striking prowess in the past, Rakhmonov had no plans to allow "Wonderboy" to use his myriad of weapons on the feet so he looked for the takedown early and often. After dragging Thompson to the mat in the second round, Rakhmonov just systematically shredded his defense until locking on a rear-naked choke that forced the multi-time title challenger to tap out for the first in his career.

The end came at 4:56 in the second round.

"Stephen Thompson is a very tough opponent," 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."

It took only a matter of seconds for Rakhmonov to close the distance and press Thompson against the cage while looking for the takedown. While Thompson was defending well, Rakhmonov continued to grind away and he threw some stiff punches whenever he had enough room to work.

When Thompson finally managed to break free, he started to launch some heavy kicks at Rakhmonov including a couple of nasty shots to the body. That led to Rakhmonov to dive for the takedown again but ultimately driving "Wonderboy" back to the cage.

With two minutes remaining in the second round, Rakhmonov finally scored his first takedown as he looked to trap one of Thompson's arm so he could launch his punches before transitioning to a rear-naked choke attempt. The submission looked tight but Thompson somehow wiggled free yet he still had a ferocious Rakhmonov on top of him.

Rakhmonov showed patience as he broke down Thompson's defense until he saw the opening to once again jump on the rear-naked choke. This time, Thompson had no escape and with Rakhmonov's grip only tightening, he had no choice but to tap out to end the fight.

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.