MUHAMMAD MOKAEV’s bid to become the youngest champion in UFC history is still alive.
The Russian-born Brit returned to action on Saturday night in the UFC 294 prelims in Abu Dhabi.
Mokaev, 23, was matched up against veteran flyweight Tim Elliot.
Former 125lbs title challenger Elliot was, on paper, the toughest challenge of Mokaev’s career.
And he passed it with flying colours courtesy of a third-round submission victory.
Mokaev struggled with his wrestling in the first round, seeing his takedown attempts stuffed by wily MMA veteran Elliot.
And he found himself trapped in tight guillotine attempts at the end of the first round and start of the second stanza.
The adopted Wigan warrior stayed calm, cool and collected under pressure and navigated his way out of the precarious submissions.
He found his groove midway through the end of the second when he slammed Elliot on his head while defending an arm triangle.
Mokaev had to deal with some illegal knees in the third round against the fence.
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He recovered from the blows and went on to secure a beautiful reversal that grounded Elliot.
His progression through positions was initially halted, but he eventually managed to cinch in a tight arm triangle which secured the biggest victory of his career.
Mokaev’s win was made even more spectacular by the fact he partially tore the MCL in his left knee at UFC 286 in March.
The former refugee had his left knee cranked by Jafel Filhno to the point that most fans thought it would snap.
And he was willing to let that happen in order to stay unbeaten.
He told SunSport: “It was close to being snapped.
“But I had in my head, ‘I’ve had more tough situations in my life.’
“Maybe compared to other people, it was not as tough.
“But for me, it was tough moving to the UK as a young kid.
“Going through 52 seconds of the kneebar, it was nothing compared to what I’ve been through.
“I was ready to stay there for two minutes or all the way until the round finished.”
