In an interview with MMAFighting, Stephen Thompson recently expressed his frustration with Shavkat Rakhmonov following their fight. Thompson is renowned for his striking prowess and understands that most opponents won’t willingly engage in a stand-up battle with him. However, Shavkat Rakhmonov vowed to outstrike him in their December matchup, and “Wonderboy” Thompson entered the fight expecting this.
Stephen Thomson Discusses Frustration with Shavkat Rakhmonov
However, Rakhmonov deviated from his plan. He opted for takedowns and ultimately became the first person to ever submit “Wonderboy”, with a rear-naked choke. Thompson acknowledges that taking the path of least resistance is a smart strategy, but didn’t agree with Rakhmonov’s post-fight explanation. “I mean even Shavkat was ‘I’m going to go out there and I’m going to beat him striking. He can’t strike with me’ and then he ended up turning into a grappler out there. Of course, his excuse was ‘I had a hurt ankle’ but that dude was running on the treadmill the day before just fine.”
Thompson’s frustration lies in past opponents trying to explain away their change in strategy after vowing to showcase their superior striking skills. He recalls a similar situation after facing Gilbert Burns in 2021, where the same coach spoke with Stephen after the fight and admitted that a cautious approach was the only way to beat him.
“Wonderboy” Added, “It is funny when guys are out there, all over social media, they want to get you thinking one thing – and obviously it’s kind of smart – they want to get you thinking one thing and then they go do the other – I’m going to be honest with you — yes [it’s frustrating],” Thompson said. “Just the fact because like come on man, you’re not fooling anybody. We all know that was your game plan the whole time.”
Fighters invest so much physically and mentally into their training, so understandably, emotions can come into play when the efforts don’t pay off in their favor.
Ready for Buckley
As Thompson prepares for his upcoming UFC 307 bout against Joaquin Buckley in what could very well be his retirement fight, he anticipates Buckley will shoot for takedowns rather than engage in a striking battle. Thompson prides himself on being difficult to take down, and he’s ready to stop Buckley’s wrestling attempts. “I think he’s going to wrestle. You saw what he did with the tall Russian (Nursulton Ruziboev) that made 170. – I’m a very difficult guy to take down. I really am. I pride myself on that. I really make my opponents work to get me down. When they do, they tire themselves out.” Thompson said.
In the end, fighters adapt, strategize, and sometimes surprise their opponents. But as Thompson puts it, honesty post-fight goes a long way. – “Just admit it. Come on.”
Quotes via MMAFighting
A link to the full interview on MMAFighting’s Youtube channel below:
Will Stephen Thompson need to use his grappling defense in this fight? Let us know in the comments below!
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
