UFC welterweight Stephen Thompson has a good record throughout his career, but he was pretty surprised when his upcoming fight with Joaquin Buckley was moved to the prelims.
Stephen Thompson is currently ranked #9 in the official welterweight division and has vied for UFC gold twice. His last fight with Shavkat Rakhmonov left a bitter taste, as he was defeated via RNC in the second round. Although Thompson acknowledges his defeat and doesn’t fault Rakhmonov for taking this route, he is pretty upset about the fighter’s explanation after the defeat.
“It is funny when guys are like, ‘I’m going to go out there [and knock him out],’” Thompson told MMA Fighting. “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.
“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.”
Thompson was quite pissed at Rakhmonov’s criticism and rationalization of why he[Thompson] changed his approach. The 41-year-old said he had an earlier conversation with Rakhmonov’s head coach, and they spoke about the game plan used to beat Him.
“It was funny because afterward the same coach as Gilbert Burns, and after the Gilbert Burns fight, the coach came up and was like, ‘I’m sorry the fight was boring, but that’s the only way to beat you,’” Thompson recounted. “He said the same thing after the Shavkat [fight].
“So I knew that’s what they were planning on. He was not planning to strike with me. He wanted to hem me up, get me to the floor and submit me, which he did that very well. That’s part of the game. I’ve got to be ready for that. But especially after the fight, they’re saying that. You can say that during the fight to get me thinking one thing but after the fight, you’re saying ‘I was going to strike with the guy but I hurt my ankle.’ Nah, dude. It got me a little bit. Very few things frustrate me — that got me a little bit. Just admit it. Come on.”
“Wonderboy” revealed his shock when Rakhmonov did not honor their agreement to stick to striking. However, he accepts that Rakhmonov was a worthy opponent in their battle.
Despite his past loss, Thompson is more than ready to compete at UFC 307. The fighter, often speculated to be nearing retirement, remains confident in his abilities and is determined to silence his critics.
