‘I Didn’t Know Who The Guy Was’

Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson believes he’s back on track to reach an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight title shot.

The 40-year-old Simpsonville, South Carolina native last challenged for UFC gold against Tyron Woodley in the pair’s rematch in March 2017. Unfortunately for Thompson, he came up short via a closely contested majority decision loss.

“Wonderboy” has only strung together one winning streak since his Woodley tilts but can change that in his next time out at UFC 296 in Las Vegas on Dec. 16, 2023. Standing in Thompson’s way will be the undefeated 17-0 super contender, Shavkat Rakhmonov. While the match up adds to a stacked line up to close out 2023 for UFC, the fight could have happened sooner, according to Thompson.

“I wanted [Kamaru] Usman because Usman called me out, but the UFC already has something set up for him and I wanted someone that was ranked above me,” Thompson told The MMA Hour. “Most of the guys that I’ve faced have been ranked behind me. The Geoff Neals and the Vicente Luques, [Michel] Pereira, which you let these guys come up they should be able to make weight, but I wanted somebody ranked above me and it didn’t matter really who it was. So the Usman fight didn’t happen, so there was Shavkat. I know he was supposed to fight [Kelvin] Gastelum, which I think Gastelum [withdrew due to a] cut, so he didn’t have anybody. I saw him on social media, I know he’s ranked above me, and it just worked out for the both of us.

“It was a year-and-a-half ago, maybe, I think, the UFC wanted me to fight Shavkat, and to be honest with you, I didn’t know who he was at the time,” he continued. “I think he’s only had, like, five fights in the UFC. Obviously, I turned it down, I didn’t know who the guy was, and then after that, I tuned in and saw him fight Neil Magny, saw him fight Geoff Neal, and I’m like, ‘Bro, this dude’s legit,’ and now he’s ranked above me. So, anybody that’s ranked above me, I told the UFC I’m down for. This is the guy I think could possibly be Welterweight champ at some point. He’s that good, undefeated, I think he has a 100 percent finish rate, so what better guy to go out there and show the world and the UFC that I deserve a title shot by fighting this guy?”

Both Thompson and Rakhmonov had separate fights fall through within the past two months. Thompson was set to take on his fellow flashy striker, Pereira, at UFC 291 this past July 2023 while Rakhmonov was going to welcome Gastelum back to 170 pounds at Noche UFC earlier this month (Sept. 16, 2023). Pereira missed weight, fizzling his bout with Thompson, and an injury forced out Gastelum of his “Nomad” showdown.

The Welterweight title picture is finally moving along at UFC 296 as the current champion, Leon Edwards, returns to defend against two-time challenger, Colby Covington. With a win over Rakhmonov, Thompson believes he could become the new No. 1 contender.

“He’s a great fighter, he’s undefeated, there’s a lot of undefeated guys in the UFC,” Thompson said of Rakhmonov. “You would think that they would put those guys together because we have so many undefeated, Ian Garry, he’s undefeated. You have Shavkat. … So what better guy to show the UFC that I deserve a No. 1 shot or a title than to fight the dude that nobody wants to fight.”