Undefeated phenom Shavkat Rakhmonov submitted fan favorite karateka Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson at UFC 296.
Shavkat, hailing from Kazakhstan and sporting his traditional wolf-fur headdress, has made an impression on fans everywhere by defeating seventeen straight opponents by finish, with a nearly even split between knockouts and submissions. His grappling presents a tough style for Wonderboy, which explains Rakhmonov being a six-to-one betting favorite, but if Thompson could keep the distance and avoid the takedown then there was a chance for Shavkat to face a challenge he has never before seen.
The first round mainly consisted of Shavkat dominating Wonderboy in the clinch for a long time but being unable to get the takedown. He landed short knees and some punches but all his trips and single leg attempts were for naught. Thompson broke free at the end of the round and had some success on the feet but did not establish clear dominance there.
The body kicks of Wonderboy were an important weapon whenever he had space to use them, but Shavkat pressed forward nonetheless. Early in the second round he got in on a single leg but failed to secure it. Still, he got Wonderboy back to the clinch position against the fence. It took a while, but finally Rakhmonov took him down two minutes into the round, riding him against the fence while Wonderboy tried to wall-walk.
Shavkat slowly worked his way into mounting the back of Thompson and locked up a rear-naked choke from an awkward, sideways angle with two minutes left. It seemed tight, but the angle allowed him to escape. However, Shavkat still had him trapped in half-guard. He sought to put his arm over the back of Thompson’s head for a d’Arce choke, but Wonderboy gave up his back instead. Shavkat against locked his arms under the chin and attacked the rear-naked choke. It was hard to see what happened as Wonderboy was turtled up, but with just a few moments left in the round he tapped.
Rakhmonov extended his record to 18-0 with 18 finishes by tapping out Stephen Thompson (becoming the first to submit Wonderboy). One of the brightest prospects in the sport is now, at most, one fight away from a shot at undisputed gold, up for grabs in the main event between Leon Edwards and Colby Covington.
