Team Shavkat Reveals Serious UFC 296 Injury

The tough Kazakh fighter was competing with a badly injured ankle that nearly forced him to pull out of his welterweight contender bout.

Shavkat Rakhmonov defeated Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson at UFC 296, becoming the first man to ever tap the Karate specialist out (watch the finish here). But despite this second round finish, there was a lot of criticism leveled at “Nomad” for his relatively conservative gameplan.

The first round between Rakhmonov and Thompson featured a lot of clinching against the cage as Shavkat worked for a takedown that just wouldn’t come. He applied the same tactic more successfully in round two, taking “Wonderboy” down and eventually securing a rear naked choke with ten seconds left on the clock. Now we’re finding out why the usually dynamic Shavkat was looking a little conservative on Saturday night.

“Rakhmonov (and his coach Henri Hooft) revealed to me he tore his ankle 6 weeks ago and was considering pulling from the fight,” UFC commentator Laura Sanko reported on X (formerly Twitter). “He was unable to kick and had to adjust his strategy as a result.”

In a video interview with the Kazakh fighter, Shavkat discussed the situation through a translator.

“Yeah I had a very serious injury,” he said. “And I was even close to pulling out from the fight but I decided to risk it all, and that’s why I didn’t kick with my leg, just use my knees. But thank God that I got the victory … It’s a very important fight for me. Even though I had an injury and couldn’t use 100%, I used 70-80% in training and in the fight. But I got the victory and that’s what it means for me.”

After the win, Shavkat called for a welterweight title fight. It wasn’t something that came up with UFC CEO Dana White during the UFC 296 post-fight press conference, but “Nomad” certainly deserves it after going 6-0 in the UFC.

“God willing hopefully next fight I’ll be 100%, but it doesn’t matter,” he said. “Whatever injury, I’m going to fight til the last drop of blood because I have to get that win.”