Aljamain Sterling does not agree with UFC’s decision to let Muhammad Mokaev go.
In July, Mokaev picked up his seventh straight UFC win, taking a unanimous decision over Manel Kape at UFC 304. The bout was the final fight on Mokaev’s UFC deal, and following it, UFC CEO Dana White revealed the promotion will not re-sign the 24-year-old undefeated fighter. While Mokaev did have a number of unfortunate incidents with Kape prior to their fight, including sucker-punching Kape at the fighter hotel on fight week, White’s decision was still unexpected — and Sterling, for one, does not agree with it.
“If you ask me, I think it’s f*cked up,” Sterling told The MMA Hour. “I don’t think there was any real reason to cut him. You can say the piggybacking of the fight at the P.I., but that takes two to tango.
“I know Mokaev was the first one to talk shit. Manel told him, ‘When you see me, keep that same energy.’ He saw him, tried to apologize, but Manel told him to keep that same energy, they had a fight or whatever happened, the scuffle. Fast forward, they had a fight again ... and then we saw what happened at the hotel, which is kind of odd to put your arm around someone to take a picture and then sucker-punch them. I think that’s a little bit too low for me. I think that one was very, very dirty.
“Then they fought the way that they fought, which was unfortunate because the whole toe thing with Manel in that fight. Then you’ve got one guy who is undefeated, gets cut, it’s weird.”
While Mokaev was not actually cut, merely not re-signed, his departure quickly became cause for speculation. With a 7-0 record in the UFC, Mokaev has unequivocally proven himself as one of the best flyweights in the world, but at his post-fight press conference, “The Punisher” revealed that UFC officials warned him about his wrestling-heavy style, saying he needed to be more exciting. And while Mokaev only landed 30 significant strikes in this fight, Sterling believes he’s getting short shrift here.
“You hear that supposedly he was told that if you don’t want to get cut, don’t keep shooting for takedowns,” Sterling said. “I don’t think he really kept shooting for takedowns in the fight against Manel. I thought he fought a really good fight. I thought both of them brought a really good fight. Outside of the animosity, I thought it was a really good fight. If you saw the animosity and thought it was going to be a crazy barnburner, these guys were going to be just throwing down, standing in the middle Max Holloway style, but that didn’t happen. It was very technical. I still thought it was a good fight.
“You always want to be exciting. I think people kind of get it a little twisted thinking that guys come out wanting to have a boring fight. We all want to have an exciting fight. Sometimes you’ve got to fight certain styles differently than you would a different style.”
UFC CEO Dana White expressly rejected the idea that anyone from the company told Mokaev how he should fight, insisting that the promotion’s issues with the prospect stemmed from “many reasons,” saying “the matchmakers aren’t big fans of his.” Whatever those reasons are, for Sterling this is just another example of the fine line you have to walk as an MMA fighter, between pleasing the promotion and doing what’s best for yourself.
“You’ve kind of got to just do what’s best for you,” Sterling said. “Mokaev is [24] years old. It’s unfortunate that he got cut for that. I don’t think that was necessary. He more than deserved another chance and I think if he goes on the regional circuit and wins one fight, or if they just bring him back right away, it gets odd.
“Because there’s another clip of Nate Maness, who was 5-2, stepped up to fight Umar even though he was a ‘25-pounder, got three bonuses, and from what he was saying, he was told he’s not an exciting guy. He’s got three bonuses! He’s got more bonuses than I have and I’m 16-4 in the UFC. It’s kind of crazy.
“It’s a very interesting spot to be in. I guess you’ve got to try and play the game a little bit because it is entertainment for the fans, but you also want to win, and sometimes it’s not easy to find that silver lining to do both; a little bit of entertainment, but also you make sure you secure the bag and get both checks. I think that’s what most people are afraid of, they don’t want to go home with one check. They want both checks.”
