‘The King Of Kung Fu’ Muslim Salikhov registered a late contender for knockout of the year at the weekend when he KO’d Song Kenan with a spinning wheel kick, and now he wants to take on another high-level striking veteran in Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson.
“I’m just starting to understand what’s going on here (in the UFC),” Salikhov said after his win at UFC Fight Night 248 in Macau. “I want to show people who’s the real king of kung fu. I’m ready to fight before Ramadan if it’s a top guy. ‘Wonderboy’ (Thompson would be his) karate vs. kung fu. We’re both old fighters, but still good – good strikers. I want to try this. I hope he’s going to be interested in this, too. Let’s do it.”
The 40-year-old Salikhov was a former multiple time Wushu Sanda world champion before switching to MMA and eventually reaching the UFC in 2017.
He’s since gone on to amass an 8-4 record, including four wins via strikes and two of those being spinning wheel kicks.
His call-out of the 41-year-old Thompson makes sense as ‘Wonderboy’ also comes from a traditional martial arts background, including having gone undefeated in 37 amateur and 20 pro-fights as a full-contact kickboxer, winning many titles along the way before transitioning to MMA.
Thompson has been a major player in the UFC’s welterweight division since all the back in 2012, compiling a 12-8-1 record that includes two unsuccessful welterweight title challenges.
At this stage it’s not clear if Thompson would be interested in fighting Salikhov, with the main stumbling block being that while he’s ranked No.10 at 170lbs, Salikhov is currently unranked.
