Muhammad Mokaev remained undefeated with another slick submission win to dispatch Tim Elliott in the featured prelim at UFC 294.
The 23-year-old flyweight endured some back-and-forth exchanges early, including some intense grappling scrambles, but he eventually got control after a late takedown in the third round. After putting Elliott on his back, Mokaev shredded his defense before locking on the fight ending head-and-arm choke with the tap coming at 3:03 in the final round.
MOKAEV REMAINS UNDEFEATED WITH A STATEMENT WIN #UFC294 IS LIVE NOW ON @ESPNPLUS pic.twitter.com/WdCFZnNZfD
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) October 21, 2023
Afterwards, Mokaev called his shot with hopes that he’ll get a whole lot closer to title contention.
“I needed to finish Tim Elliott,” Mokaev said. “Now I’m 5-0 in the UFC with four finishes and most winning streak in the division. Give me Kai Kara-France or the title. Kai Kara-France, Amir Albazi, Manel Kape, anyone.”
When the fight started, it was Elliott living up to his awkward nickname while throwing from weird angles to get inside where he took Mokaev down early. Mokaev eventually scrambled back to his feet where he looked for a takedown of his own but Elliott stuffed it before throwing some knees to the head.
A relentless wrestling attack from Mokaev didn’t slow down, however, as he continued pressing forward before putting Elliott on his back. While he did have to defend a couple of guillotine choke attempts, Mokaev maintained top position while peppering away at Elliott underneath him.
Elliott eventually slipped through with a triangle choke that looked incredibly tight but Mokaev countered with a nasty slam that broke the submission.
With five minutes remaining, Elliott once again stuffed a takedown, which allowed him to blast away at Mokaev with a couple more knees to the head. Referee Jason Herzog paused the action but replayed appeared to show that the knees were legal and Elliott was allowed to maintain the position on the restart.
Unfortunately for him, Mokaev countered with a beautiful reversal to a takedown that put him on top yet again. From there, Mokaev advanced his position against the cage, which allowed him to move into position for the arm triangle choke.
It only took Mokaev a split second to lock up the submission and Elliott was forced to tap out as the undefeated flyweight picked up another impressive win.
The future looks very bright for Mokaev and with a win over an established veteran like Elliott, he may just get his wish for a top-ranked opponent when he returns to action.
