Despite the win over Manel Kape, undefeated flyweight, Muhammad Mokaev faced the guns after the UFC matchmakers decided to let go of the fighter. And now, the promotion’s head, Dana White has dropped more updates about the decision to not re-sign the British fighter.
Speaking to the press ahead of this weekend’s thriller, UFC 305, White simply put the blame on Mokaev, accusing the fighter of doing everything wrong and “pi**ing off” the matchmakers.
“I wasn’t involved in any of the stuff that happened with him but you know, the matchmakers and Hunter (Campbell) were and they weren’t happy with him, they weren’t happy with the way he acted, they weren’t happy with a lot of things he said and did…You put yourself into this situation.”
While the 13-0 fighter’s UFC Performance Institute brawl with Kape got the headlines, bringing more eyes into the flyweight category as per Uncle Dana, Mokaev did everything possibly wrong.
Whatever he did must have been terrible to the gut because the fighter was even willing to work without any payment and urged the UFC to renew the contract but none if it even budged the company management.
This, however has left a sour taste in the fighting community’s mouth.
Meanwhile, UFC’s bantamweight champion, Sean O’Malley also weighed in his thoughts on Mokaev’s dismal fallout from the UFC.
O’Malley surprised at Mokaev ousting
Not just Sean O’Malley, but the entire fighting community was stunned after Uncle Dana announced the organization’s decision to leave out undefeated flyweight prospect, Mokaev.
His wrestling-heavy style certainly played a factor in his contract renewal. The fighter had alleged that UFC had asked him to tone down his wrestling heavy style of fighting. But none of that seemed to have mattered in the end.
Reflecting on the incident, ‘Suga’ Sean O’Malley claimed that the decision was surprising to say the least since Mokaev was one of the few fighters in the division he could actually name, since he was 7-0 before getting the pink slip.
Refusing to pick sides, O’Malley mentioned all the variables that might have led to the UFC letting go of the fighter. In addition to that, ‘Suga’ also mentioned Mokaev’s last fight with his rival, Kape, and how bland the opening round was.
“But yeah, also, if you’re going to go in there and make the UFC’s life hell for fight week… they were separating them in the octagon before the fight even started. Then the bell rang, and three punches were thrown in the first round.”
What do you think? Was Mokaev’s ousting justified, let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
