Former two-time welterweight title challenger, Stephen Thompson has revealed tonight that upon an offer from promotional brass – the Simponsville native has put pen to paper on a bout agreement to fight the undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 296 on December 16.
Thompson, a former title chaser under the banner of the organization, has been sidelined since forced a fourth round corner’s stoppage TKO against recent feature Kevin Holland in the main event of UFC Orlando back in December of last year in ‘The Sunshine State’.
Expected to return at UFC 291 back in July against Brazilian striker, Michel Pereira, Thompson elected against fighting the former after he missed weight for the non-title welterweight clash, removing himself from the card.