Muhammad
Mokaev’s post-fight admission might have cost him his job.
Unbeaten youngster Mokaev (13-0, 1 NC) picked up a lackluster win
over rival Kape (19-7) in front of his home fans in Manchester,
England, on the prelims of
UFC 304. Leading up to the fight, UFC featherweight Jean Silva
reported Kape punched Mokaev outside the UFC Performance Institute.
However, Kape dismissed the reports as mere exaggeration by his
friend to help promote the fight.
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On fight week, Mokaev and Kape’s teams were
captured on video brawling at the fighter hotel after the UFC
304 weigh-ins. While Kape subsequently posted a picture of Mokaev
with a cut on the forehead, the Dagestan-born Brit shared a photo
of his unscathed face along with a screengrab of a seemingly downed
Kape. Kape’s coach, Eric Nicksick of Xtreme Couture, subsequently
accused Mokaev of sucker punching the Angolan on the pretext of
taking a photo together.
Kape and Mokaev looked primed to attack one another once they both
reached the confines of the Octagon, and the promotion had the
foresight to assign extra security during the announcements.
Contrary to expectations, the bout turned out to be dud, with
Mokaev eking out a unanimous decision win after Kape suffered an
apparent toe injury.
Mokaev subsequently admitted to sucker-punching Kape at the
post-fight press conference, while explaining his reason. Mokaev
claimed that Kape headbutted him in Las Vegas days prior to matchup
with Alex
Perez in March. While Mokaev was criticized for a disappointing
lay-and-pray performance, “The Punisher” stated he was he trying to
protect a cut resulting from Kape’s headbutt that needed
stitches—potentially explaining the photograph posted by Kape
misattributed to their recent scuffle.
While they seemingly buried the hatchet afterwards, Kape vowed to
hit Mokaev again in a video posted by Silva. Mokaev explained that
his rough upbringing doesn’t allow him to withstand bullying
without responding. When Mokaev couldn’t get close to Kape ahead of
UFC 304, the 23-year-old admits to have called him to take a
picture together, only to come out swinging.
“This fight was important to me,” Mokaev explained
at the post-fight presser. “Five days before my Alex Perez
fight, I met with Manel, he headbutted me. If you watch my Alex Perez
fight, I went [to] fight with cut, with like eight [stiches on] my
eyebrow…Everybody think I was boring wrestler. But I was shooting
on my knees to save [myself from opening] my cut, and nobody knew
this. And we sorted, we shook hands with Manel…Whoever asked me
what happened in Las Vegas, I said it was between me and Kape, it
stays in Vegas.”
Mokaev continued, “And then he said once he comes to Manchester, he
gonna do it second time. I couldn’t come close to him in the hotel
so I told him, ‘Let’s come take picture.’ And once he came, I
dropped him. I had to do it. Because I’m not Alex Perez,
I’m not other guys who somebody come bully me. I come from the
rough background, like my life was tough. And I don’t give no sh*t
to anyone to bully me.”
In a display of sportsmanship, Mokaev and Kape appeared to put the
past behind them in the cage after their UFC 304 encounter. Mokaev
declined to speak any further about what transpired.
“Whatever happened, it should stay between me and Manel now. I
don’t want to talk s**t against him, he lost, he has a family, he
has a kid… He’s there to earn money for his family. I think I need
to stop, once I beat somebody, I don’t want to talk about man down
already. I wish him all the best, I’m young but I’m strong in my
mind,” “The Punisher” concluded.
Since Mokaev spoke, UFC chief Dana White indicated that Mokaev
fought out his contract with the promotion, and that Mokaev will
not be re-signed. White even sarcastically congratulated another
organization for signing him in the future, mentioning rival
company Professional Fighters League as a potential
suitor for the Dagestan-born flyweight.