Manel Kape has no sympathy for Muhammad Mokaev.
At UFC 304, Kape and Mokaev faced off in a battle teeming with bad blood. The feud was so heated that the two fighters got into a brawl on fight week, and then nearly came to blows again at the ceremonial weigh-ins. However, when the time came to finally face off inside the octagon, things went dramatically different, with Mokaev winning an unspiring decision in a fight that saw the undefeated fighter commit numerous fouls throughout the bout. Five months later and Kape still thinks he got screwed.
“I was looking for the fight, all the time chasing him,” Kape told reporters at the UFC Tampa Media Day. “What he was doing, he was only run away from me. His kicks didn’t have any effect, because they were to keep me away. There is no fight if someone tries to fight and another one decides to run away. I showed his wrestling is not on my level.
“In the second round, I tried to submit him, but he grabbed my shorts. Shakespeare says that man is the owner of his fate. He probably changed his fate that night when he grabbed my shorts. Worse than that was the referee.
“[Mokaev] was not a man, he [did] a b*tch move. He was looking to [the referee], he grabbed my shorts, and when I dropped my hands, I said that I lost the position, he still grabbed my shorts with fear, because I was very deep in that position. It’s one of my favorite positions, the knee bar. So I felt the victory in that moment. If I get the victory in that moment, nobody will say that the fight was boring, because I had a finish.
“But on the other hand, the ref should take the point. So he didn’t [do his] job. Mokaev got fired, but one other person who should be fired was the referee as well, because he didn’t do his job. We see situations like [Michael] Chandler beating the head of Charles [Oliveira], we saw a guy bite another guy. This situation was similar, so it was not just the fault of Mokaev, but the referee too. The referee was the main issue.”
The referee that evening was Mike Beltran, who has been the subject of ire for a few fighters, including Justin Gaethje who ripped Beltran for his how the referee handled fouls in his bout with Michael Chandler at UFC 268. Kape feels similarly, and even went so far as to suggest the UFC should stop using Beltran (athletic commissions actually employ and assign referees).
“The referee, there is a situation where I punched Mokaev and he put a finger in my eye, and I gave my back,” Kape said. “Even in that moment, when I turned my back because it was bad, the ref didn’t do anything, he didn’t take any point. ... In the locker room he said, ‘Any dirty move and I’m going to take a point.’ He was just loud, but he didn’t do anything. You have to do your job. So I feel in that fight I was a fighter and I was a referee at the same time, because it was me that stopped the fight. I stopped and he followed my lead. ... There were multiple fouls in that [fight] and he didn’t do his job. I think the UFC should fire him as well, not just Mokaev.”
For clarity’s sake, the UFC did not actually fire Mokaev.
His fight with Kape was the last on Mokaev’s contract and the promotion opted not to re-sign him in part due to his outside-the-cage antics. Considering he’s only 24 years old and one of the best flyweights in the world, some people thought this was harsh, but for Kape, this is justice.
“He plays dirty. He plays dirty,” Kape said when asked about Mokaev. “He f*cked me up, so why not? It’s fair. Play clean. Lose, tap, or get your knee destroyed. We would love to see it, because he didn’t tap that time with that knee, and I go straight for that leg because I knew. So if you are tough like you say, you have the heart of a lion, tap or let your knee break.”
“I don’t have nothing against him, I just feel that he’s a dirty fighter, he’s a dirty person. Good luck to him. ... Everyone has his karma. Like I say, karma hits hard.
“I don’t feel bad because he grabbed my shorts,” Kape added. “That moment was the biggest moment of the fight. ... He was in a deep moment, he saw his first loss. In that moment, he saw his first loss, and you saw my expression. I was happy because I knew, if we go to the ground, there are levels of my jiu-jitsu. I’m a black belt in jiu-jitsu, I’m good as f*ck. I know what I’m doing. So he played dirty, and he had his fate, too. That is not my fault.”
And apparently Mokaev agrees. The undefeated fighter responded to Kape’s comments on social media, both rejecting Kape’s belief he would have finished the submission, and sort of squashing the beef.
First of all I apologised what i did and moved on, I don’t cry and give interview about our fight anymore I’m good bro , don’t worry about me Allah has better plans for me!
— Muhammad Mokaev (@muhammadmokaev) December 12, 2024
2nd you have 0 submission in your career , if I didn’t tap to Jafel Filho who just beat Amir Albazi and… https://t.co/RxWcJ71OYY
“First of all I apologized [for] what I did and moved on, I don’t cry and give interview about our fight anymore. I’m good bro, don’t worry about me. Allah has better plans for me!
“[Second] you have 0 submission in your career. If I didn’t tap to Jafel Filho, who just beat Amir Albazi and has 10 submission on his professional record, it shows the level of real black belts!
“I wish [you] all the best Manel and hope this [does] not continue!”
As fate would have it, both Kape and Mokaev are set to compete this weekend. Mokaev defeated Joevincent So at Brave CF 91 on Friday, while Kape takes on Bruno Silva in the featured main card fight at UFC Tampa this Saturday.
