The UFC’s Dana White made it clear his promotion was done with undefeated flyweight Muhammad Mokaev following a less-than-thrilling win over Manel Kape at UFC 304 and several out-of-the-Octagon incidents.
White offered Mokaev up to the PFL with a particularly savage dismissal during the pre-fight presser, but it appears the PFL isn’t interested in the 23-year-old from Dagestan either.
On Friday night in Nashville following the PFL Playoffs that saw standout wins from Denis Goltsov and Dakota Ditcheva, PFL President Ray Sefo told a reporter that his promotion wasn’t interested in signing Mokaev because he’d heard the latter “is a pain in the ass to deal with.”
Here is a clip of Sefo’s comments from Spinnin Backfist:
Mokaev had multiple brawls with Kape, including an admitted sucker punch of the flyweight contender after baiting him in to take a photograph.
The scrap with Kape at UFC 304 was the final fight on Mokaev’s contract, and the UFC seemed to waste no time severing ties. It was a startling split, considering Mokaev appeared to be on the cusp of contending for a world title at 125 pounds.
He remains undefeated and could have been next in line for Alexandre Pantoja.
However, if the UFC felt Mokaev was boring in the Octagon and also not the easiest fighter to deal with on a business level, the last thing the promotion would want is for him to become champion, potentially muddying the waters for an entire division.
This is especially the case for a division that has struggled to establish a draw. Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson is one of the greatest fighters of all time.
He dominated the division for years, and the UFC traded him to ONE Championship for Ben Askren. If the greatest fighter in the history of the weight class is expendable, a fighter with a less attractive fighting style and more problematic to do business with has even less job security.
Unfortunately for Mokaev, he may have learned this lesson the hard way. There are other smaller organizations for which Mokaev can compete and rebuild his brand with the potential to return to the UFC.
Fortunately, he is young enough to have time for a transition. At this point, that might be his only option.
Meanwhile, Mokaev’s exit from the promotion has cleared the way for other flyweights like Tatsuro Taira, Steve Erceg and Tagir Ulanbekov. All three men have a fight coming up in the very near future, with a win potentially putting the min range for a title shot.
Hopefully, another star in the division will emerge thereby pumping life into the weight class.
