“I don’t think the UFC punished me by giving me the fight against Rakhmonov. There was no agreement on a fight with Usman, so Shavkat will be his opponent. He was supposed to fight Gastelum, but I think Calvin was having trouble cutting weight, so he pulled out. I saw Shavkat’s challenge on social networks and found out that he was higher than me in the ranking. So this fight is beneficial for both of us. About a year and a half ago, the UFC already offered me a fight with Shavkat. But I’ll be honest, at the time I didn’t know who he was.”
Let us remind you that the fight between Thompson and Rakhmonov will take place on December 16 as part of UFC 296.