Muhammad Mokaev believes he was in the right after starting a brawl with Manel Kape days before their fight at UFC 304.
The flyweight feud came to a head at Saturday’s pay-per-view at Co-op Live in Manchester, England, with Mokaev winning a unanimous decision in a bout that was high on bad blood and light on in-cage action. It certainly didn’t live up to the hype that was built up by their pre-fight altercation that took place at the fighter hotel this past Wednesday.
Speaking to the media after the fight, Mokaev was asked about the tension going into the fight and he made a surprising admission as to how the brawl was ignited.
“This fight was important to me,” Mokaev said. “Five days before my Alex Perez fight [in March], I met with Manel, he head-butted me. If you watch my Alex Perez fight, I went to the fight with a cut. They stitched up my eyebrow, my fight with Alex Perez everybody thought I was a boring wrestler, but I was shooting on my knees to [prevent my cut from opening]. Nobody knew this. We shook hands with Manel. In one of the interviews, whoever asked me about Las Vegas, I said what’s between me and Kape stays in Vegas. In an interview, [Kape] said if he comes to Manchester, he’s going to do it a second time.
“So I couldn’t come close to him in the hotel, so I told him let’s come take a picture. And once he came, I dropped him. I had to do it because I’m not somebody who — I’m not Alex Perez. I’m not other guys who, somebody can bully me. I come from a rough background. My life was tough and I give no shit to anyone to bully me.”
Before the bell rang on Saturday, it looked like Mokaev and Kape might get into a pre-fight scrap again as they had to be separated shortly after entering the cage. Cooler heads prevailed — and security stayed between them for as long as needed — and the bout proceeded as scheduled.
Mokaev brushed off that incident as being part of the game.
“It’s OK,” Mokaev said. “We’re two men, we’re there to fight. He’s old. We’re two men [here] to fight, what else we should do? I know there’s UFC security and stuff, but we’re two men, he’s coming for what’s his and I’m coming for what’s mine. It’s normal.”
When Mokaev was asked to elaborate further on his outside-of-the-cage rivalry with Kape, he declined, calling the matter resolved for now.
“We just fought,” Mokaev said. “We shook hands. Whatever happened, it should stay between me and Manel now. I don’t want to talk shit about him. He lost, he has a family, he has a kid that watches his fights. He’s there to earn money for his family.
“I think I need to stop once I beat somebody, I don’t want to bring the man down already. I wish him all the best. I’m young, but I’m strong in my mind, and I believe those people, we need to help them to lift them from the ground, not kick him down on the floor now.”
In his immediate post-fight interview, Mokaev revealed the Kape fight was the last on his current contract and he implored the Manchester crowd to cheer for him to get a new one. He later added that he’d discussed signing a new contract with matchmakers beforehand and they suggested he show off his striking as opposed to his trademark wrestling.
Unfortunately for Mokaev, UFC CEO Dana White shot down any chance of the up-and-coming flyweight returning to the octagon in the immediate future.
“Yeah, that’s what we tell guys. We tell guys how to fight,” White said at UFC 304’s post-fight press conference. “We’ve been doing this for a long f*cking time. I’m sure one the matchmakers probably said something to him or whatever. The matchmakers aren’t big fans of his for many different reasons. There’s a lot of people who shoot takedowns in this business, a lot of guys that fight with that type of style. But it’s a lot more than just that.
“He’s not under contract anymore. I think the PFL’s going to get a great undefeated guy. Good luck to him.”
