Shavkat Rakhmonov appeared to be fighting with a severe ankle injury at UFC 296.
The undefeated Kazakh welterweight disclosed that he had torn a major ligament in his ankle six weeks before the event. Despite the injury, he managed to defeat Stephen Thompson via a rear-naked choke in the second round, marking his 13th victory and becoming the first man to submit Thompson for the second time in his MMA career.
Rakhmonov, who is 18-0, mentioned, “I was seriously injured and almost had to withdraw from the match, but I decided to give it everything I had” and attributed his victory to his determination. He also added that due to his injury, he refrained from kicking and relied on using his knees instead.
The 29-year-old Rakhmonov has a perfect 6-0 record with six finishes in his UFC welterweight career. His victories include wins over Jeff Neal, Neil Magny, Michel Prazeres, and Alex Oliveira in addition to Thompson. Throughout his MMA career, Rakhmonov has maintained a 100 percent finish rate overall, without ever requiring a judge’s scorecard.
Post-fight, Rakhmonov expressed his desire to compete for the UFC welterweight title.
He stated, “I hope that next time, God willing, I will be 100 percent. But it doesn’t matter. Any injury, I’m going to fight to the last sip of blood, because I have to get the win.”
UFC 296 was held on December 16th at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. In the main event of the evening, UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards defended the title against Colby Covington and secured a unanimous decision victory.
