Despite never losing a fight and racing to a number six ranking in the world, Muhammad Mokaev appears to be on the way out of UFC.
The Dagestani-born grappler was 11-0 heading into his UFC 304 grudge match with Manel Kape. The bout was ostensibly a world title eliminator, with the winner set to face Alexandre Pantoja in a division that is struggling for top contenders.
But despite all of this, he claims that his career in the promotion was in doubt as he headed towards the end of his latest contract. And now Dana White has told rival promotion PFL that they are free to take him as his contract is up.
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Muhammad Mokaev defeats Manel Kape to settle bitter feud
The bitter blood feud between Muhammad Mokaev and Manel Kape lasted from an alleged altercation in America months ago through to their ring announcements after making the walks. The pair had to separated ahead of the first bell by security as they attempted to fight early.
However, once that bell went, it was a relatively lacklustre affair. Neither man committed too much to chasing the finish, leading to a lukewarm series of rounds which were slowed even further after Kape suffered a broken toe in the second.
Mokaev appeared to cheat on a number of occasions, most notably pulling his rival’s shorts down a few inches during a grappling exchange. He also landed an eye poke that wasn’t penalised, and scraped through with another decision victory.
Muhammad Mokaev feared for his UFC career ahead of UFC 304
In a fascinating turn of events before Saturday’s fights, the bout between Mokaev and Kape ended up being moved at one stage as low as the Fight Pass Prelims. This was despite being arguably the third most important bout of the night in terms of title implications.
And Mokaev has said that he was warned prior to the bout that his UFC career may be over if he doesn’t change up his style, which is heavy on grappling. He is currently out of contract, and the promotion didn’t offer him a new one before the title eliminator.
“They said they’re going to see how I perform,” he told the media afterwards. “They don’t want to see me keep shooting and taking somebody down but I’ve done what I could do with, like, tonight. They don’t like this.
“They tried to get rid of flyweights before and they don’t want this kind of fight. But, listen, I’m young, I’m still not in my prime and if they want me to stand and bang, toe-to-toe with these 30-year-old grown men I have to do what’s best for me to win.”
Dana White tells PFL to sign Muhammad Mokaev as he opts not to renew UFC contract
And despite Mokaev’s claim appearing to be outlandish, it was later all but confirmed by promotional boss Dana White following the pay-per-view. He declared that the Dagestani-born Brit is no longer under contract, and implored their top rivals PFL to sign him up.
He mocked the idea of Mokaev being told how he should fight, sarcastically quipping that he was ‘sure one of the matchmakers probably said something to him.” He added that the promotion has a number of fighters known for shooting for takedowns who are top of their divisions.
However, he did dismiss the idea of re-signing Mokaev, adding: “The matchmakers aren’t big fans of his for many different reasons and not just takedowns… It’s a lot more than just that. He is not under contract any more, I think the PFL is going to get a great, undefeated guy. Good luck to him.
“Listen, the stuff that’s played out here over the last few months that started at the PI plus many other things. These guys don’t want to re-sign him.”