Stephen Thompson may have suffered more than one kind of setback at UFC 296.
“Wonderboy” not only took his first submission loss against Shavkat Rakhmonov at the UFC’s December pay-per-view, he also believes that he might have injured his foot. In a video posted to his YouTube channel, Thompson speculated that he broke his foot during the course of his fight with Rakhmonov, which ended with seconds remaining in Round 2.
“I actually came out of the fight pretty much unscathed, other than the fact that I think I broke my foot with a good body kick right to the elbow,” Thompson said. “Another thing, don’t kick your opponent in the elbow, because that sucks.
“So I apparently have a broken foot, but I’m itching to get back into the gym and start working out again.”
Thompson, who turns 41 in February, has now lost three of his past four fights, sandwiching a TKO of Kevin Holland between losses to Rakhmonov, Belal Muhammad, and Gilbert Burns. He’s not the only welterweight contender that claims to have suffered a foot injury at UFC 296, as Colby Covington also said that he hurt his foot in the opening round of his eventual loss to champion Leon Edwards in the main event.
A two-time UFC title challenger, Thompson pointed to an error in strategy as to why he lost to Rakhmonov and he vowed to show improvement in his next appearance.
“I also appreciate all your support for the fight this past Saturday,” Thompson said. “Obviously, it didn’t go the way I wanted it to go. That’s why you should always follow the plan. I didn’t follow the plan so it’s my fault.
“Love you guys and I’ll be back stronger, better than ever. I’ve got some things I’ve got to work on. Get this foot healed up and we’ll get after it again.”
