Shavkat Rakhmonov becomes first to ever submit Stephen Thompson at UFC 296
The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to us tonight, December 16, 2023, for UFC 296, the final event of the year going down live from the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada.
Headlining the event is a welterweight title bout between UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards (21-3) and no. 3 ranked former interim champion Colby Covington (17-3).
Co-headlining the event is also a title bout, this one coming at 125 lbs between UFC flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja (26-5) and no. 2 ranked Brandon Royval (15-6).
Our feature fight of the evening came at 170 lbs between no. 5 ranked former M-1 Challenge welterweight champion Shavkat Rakhmonov (18-0) and no. 6 ranked former two-time title challenger Stephen Thompson (17-7-1).
Rakhmonov came into the bout having gone a perfect 5-0 thus far into his promotional tenure, while Thompson came into the bout off a TKO victory over no. 12 ranked Kevin Holland in his most recent appearance.
Continue reading to see how this bantamweight showcase went down:
Official Result: Shavkat Rakhmonov def. Stephen Thompson via submission (rear naked choke) at 4:56 of round two
Much of round one is spent with Rakhmonov pressing Thompson into the fence in search of a takedown, nearly four minutes of it in fact. Rakhmonov gets off some heavy punches in the midst, but he’s mostly just racking up control time. Thompson separates in the final minute and lands two hard body kicks before the bell sounds.
Rakhmonov does more of the same in the second, eventually taking Thompson down. He nearly secures a rear naked choke submission before Thompson battles his way out of it, turning to his back and eating a number of punches and elbows in the process.
As the round is approaching its end, Rakhmonov ends up going for the rear naked choke again as Thompson turtles up, and he’s forced to tap late in the second.
Shavkat Rakhmonov keeps his 100% finish rate tonight at UFC 296, becoming the first man to ever submit Stephen Thompson, and just the second man to ever finish him. 18-0 with 18 finishes, that’s just insane. Now the question is, does no. 2 ranked Belal Muhammad get passed up for a tile shot in favor of Rakhmonov?
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