Shavkat Rakhmonov entered the cage at UFC 296 with a pre-existing injury, and it almost caused him to pull out of the fight with Stephen Thompson entirely.
The now 18-0 Rakhmonov continued his reign of domination this Saturday at UFC 296, but according to the young superstar: he almost pulled out of the fight. At the UFC 296 post-fight press conference, Rakhmonov himself via translator admitted to coming into the fight with a serious injury. He explained that he had injured his ankle, and it was a “very serious” injury that was bad enough to have him seriously considering withdrawing from the fight.