UFC star Shavkat Rakhmonov made a statement win when he submitted his opponent and collected an impressive win at UFC 285. The surging contender improved his undefeated record to 17-0 as Geoff Neil tapped out in the third round. The surging welterweight contender, then riding high in emotions, called out Stephen Thompson. Notably, both the fighters share an intense history as ‘Wonderboy’ once declined a fight against ‘Nomad’ citing his grappling skill set. The Saturday night fight card only strengthened the Kazakh’s grappling credential as he finished his fifth straight fight inside the Octagon.

In the aftermath of the back-and-forth fight, the 28-year-old called out Colby Covington in the post-fight interview. While he pinned his focus on ‘Chaos’, the former M-1 global champion also didn’t let the opportunity slide to jab Thompson. Markedly, the #9 ranked welterweight put on a gutsy performance during the fight, relying on splendid standup skills.

Stephen Thompson hits back at Shavkat Rakhmonov over grappler remarks

Rakhmonov then took to Twitter as he tagged the American fighter and wrote, “Who’s grappler now?”

In the response, the 40-year-old pointed out that the undefeated fighter failed to take his opponent down. Nevertheless, he collected the win via submission.

Thus, the former kickboxer penned, “All due respect to you and your great performance but 0/4 on takedowns doesn’t make you “not” a grappler! Congrats on your victory! Let’s not forget you won by submission! But much love!”

The 17-6-1 record has recently developed recusancy to fight the grapplers because of two back-to-back losses he suffered against skilled submission grapplers. First against Gilbert Burns at UFC 264 and then against Belal Muhammad at UFC Vegas 45.

Thompson’s reluctance to fight the grapplers

Since then, the Simpsonville native vowed to work on his ground game and openly admitted to not facing a heavy grappler like his previous matches. Reportedly, before fighting Kevin Holland in December 2022, he was offered Rakhmonov, the fight he readily rejected.

The 40-year-old previously had clarified his stance on working on his ground game and especially wrestling. Also, according to him, facing another grappler made no sense to him. Therefore, a fight against a grappler also didn’t appeal to him.

Read More: “You Have No Choice” – UFC World Goes Berserk as Shavkat Rakhmonov Calls Out Colby Covington After “Strangling” Geoff Neal to Sleep at UFC 285

What do you think of this statement by Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson? Do you believe a fight involving the two might take place in the immediate future? Let us know in the comments below.

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