
Despite Stephen Thompson saying his opponent would bring their bout to the ground, Shavkat Rakhmonov said he could still win even without pushing the said practice.
“Nomad” will face the UFC veteran in a main card bout at UFC 296 on December 16 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. According to Thompson, given the Kazakh fighter’s clean UFC record filled with submission wins, it is not impossible that Rakhmonov will push their battle to the ground.
“Now, do I feel like Shavkat is going to stand there and bang with me? I don’t think so,” Thompson told Submission Radio earlier. “I think eventually he’s going to shoot. He’s going to shoot in and try to get the fight to the ground obviously.”
For Rakhmonov, nonetheless, it is not a requirement to bring an opponent to the ground to ensure his victory. As the No. 5-ranked fighter noted, his response would still depend on how Thompson would react in the bout.
“It depends how he will act, but I think my standing game is not worse than his,” Rakhmonov told Morning Kombat through an interpreter. “I think I can beat him in standing game.”
Rakhmonov is hoping to use his expected win over Thompson to move forward and get the title shot against Leon Edwards in the welterweight division. However, the Kazakh knows Belal Muhammad is ahead of him, thanks to the No. 2-ranked fighter’s 10-fight winning streak. With this, while admitting that “Belal Muhammad also deserves the title shot,” Nomad stressed that he’s still “ready” in case the UFC gives him a chance to face the division champ in the future.