UFC legend Matt Brown doesn’t advocate for anyone to lose their job, but he understands why the UFC decided to cut ties with Muhammad Mokaev.
While there were apparently a multitude of issues that led to the decision not to re-sign the 23-year-old flyweight prospect to a new contract, Mokaev didn’t help his cause after he got into a pre-fight brawl with Manel Kape in the host hotel. After earning a unanimous decision win at UFC 304, Mokaev openly confessed that he sucker-punched Kape after asking for a photo together before attacking him unprovoked.
Following the event, UFC CEO Dana White made it clear that Mokaev wouldn’t be returning to the organization, but apparently there were a long list of grievances that added up to his dismissal. For his part, Brown didn’t follow every move that Mokaev made, but hearing the admission about the sucker-punch, was already a bridge too far.
“I’d probably cut him, too, to be honest,” Brown said on the latest episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer. “It is surprising that they would do that, being that his ceiling is pretty freaking high. I’ve watched him fight before. The dude has really, really high ceiling. Young guy with a lot of skills, a lot of talent. But when you’re up and coming like that, you can’t just do that. I think the UFC has shown that before. When you’re an up and comer, you can’t be ruffling too many feathers. Obviously like some but you can’t be doing stupid shit like that.
“Once you’re Jon Jones, and you’re putting all those asses in the seats, yeah you get away with some shit. Because you’re in business with the UFC. You’re a partner essentially. Whereas how many people tune in to watch Muhammad Mokaev? When he goes and fights in PFL, how many people are going to tune in and watch Muhammad Mokaev? So there are double standards or triple standards or whatever. There is different standards for every fighter. He’s not at that level to be getting away with shit like that. I don’t know the story but that [sucker-punch] sounds like a cowardly b*tch move, and I wouldn’t want to be in business with someone like that either.”
Obviously without knowing all the details, Brown couldn’t speak specifically to Mokaev’s situation, but he knows from his own personal experiences what it’s like to deal with the UFC including matchmakers like Sean Shelby and Mick Maynard.
Over the course of his 16-year career with the UFC, Brown built a rapport with the company that gave him certain freedoms that likely weren’t afforded to other athletes. In Mokaev’s case, he’s 23 years old and only seven fights into his UFC career, but it appeared that due to some kind of behind the scenes friction, he was already at odds with the matchmakers as well as White after UFC 304.
Brown knows whatever behavior led to the UFC deciding it wasn’t worth signing Mokaev back to another contract must have been bad enough that the risk outweighed the potential reward.
“They know when he does get bigger, wins a title or something, they can’t rely on you,” Brown said. “You’re a loose cannon. The UFC knows with these up and coming fighters, when you get a belt and you start making money, start getting some power, it just magnifies even more.
“All that shit you started when you were up and coming, it’s just going to get bigger and worse for them. So of course why would they want to be in business with someone like that?”
Unfortunately for Mokaev, he apparently hadn’t built enough goodwill for the UFC to look past whatever issues existed.
That’s not the case when it comes to superstars like Jon Jones or Conor McGregor, who have both faced a litany of controversies — including several arrests — outside the cage but they’ve both proven their worth to the UFC unlike a young prospect like Mokaev.
“It’s literally like any other business,” Brown explained. “You provide value, you get away with more. It’s what it’s all about. If you provide enough value, they’re going to give you more leeway on things. Some guys know that and take advantage of it. Some guys kind of remember where they came from and all that kind of ooey gooey stuff.
“Apparently he wasn’t into building a relationship is what I’m guessing, or hadn’t built a relationship with them. It kind of sucks for him but it sounds deserved. I don’t know the whole story, I don’t understand everything, but from what I do know, it sounds deserved. You sucker-punch people, especially in that matter. Ask for a picture and suck them into being nice and then sucker-punch them. That’s just dirty. I don’t really have any sympathy in that case, if that is the whole story, which he apparently admitted to it.”
As bad as it looks for Mokaev right now, Brown promises there may be a silver lining to this entire situation.
Because Mokaev is so young, leaving the UFC gives him the chance to grow, get better and mature and maybe in a couple of years he’ll do enough to earn an invite back.
“As hard as the UFC can be on up and comers like that, they’re also very forgiving,” Brown said. “I’ve seen a lot of guys do a lot of f*cked up shit, get cut, get in trouble, get reprimanded and they still come back and it was like it never happened.
“We’ve seen that many times. They can be forgiving. It’s not the end of the world for Muhammad Mokaev.”
