Although Stephen Thompson is unsure, the former UFC welterweight championship challenger believes he is entitled to back money.
On December 16 in Las Vegas at UFC 296 Thompson will face Shavkat Rakhmonov, who has never lost. The bout was scheduled about two months after Michel Pereira’s opponent in Thompson’s UFC 291 bout was withdrawn on weigh-in day.
Thompson, who weighed 170.5 pounds and was three pounds under the welterweight limit when Pereira reached 174, opted not to continue.
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Stephen Thomson Believes UFC Will Pay Him
Thompson claims he will receive payment for the UFC 296 match he was unable to attend. Fans were sad when Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson and Michel Pereira did not square off at UFC 291, but there was a valid reason for it.
Thompson declined the fight after learning that his opponent weighed three pounds over the welterweight limit, and UFC President Dana White chastised him for it.
Thompson believed the UFC would still pay him for the show because he kept his half of the contract and made weight, but that didn’t happen and still hasn’t. Weidman reacted when asked about his status on receiving payment for UFC 291 following this fight by claiming that the UFC was attempting to buy him off.
But Thompson anticipates that will change after UFC 296.
“I do believe that they’re going to – I think the deal is, when I fight Shavkat, they’re going to add on what they owed me for the last fight,” Thompson told Chris Weidman on SiriusXM’s “Won’t Back Down.”
The UFC reportedly complied, and now No. 7 in the official rankings 40-year-old Thompson (17-6-1 MMA, 12-6-1 UFC) has the opportunity to inflict Rakhmonov’s (17-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) first defeat as a professional. Thompson, who just defeated Kevin Holland, is excited about the chance given his title hopes and the implications of Rakhmonov’s 100% finish rate.
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