Mokaev says he’s making three times as much as he was with the UFC, but still wants to end up back in the promotion that dropped him when his contract ended.
Muhammad Mokaev wants you to know he’s doing great after getting dumped by the UFC.
The flyweight contender found himself out of a job with the top MMA promotion after his final fight at UFC 304 was less than exciting. There was more to it than that, according to UFC CEO Dana White. He said Mokaev was rubbing matchmakers and staff the wrong way for all sorts of reasons.
So after Mokaev beat Manel Kape in Manchester, the promotion said, ‘So long and good luck with your career.’ The good luck part sounded kind of sarcastic, to be honest. But according to “The Punisher,” he’s thriving back in Brave Combat Federation where he claims he’s making three times what he was in the UFC.
“Highest paid flyweight fighter in the world right now without holding the title,” Mokaev wrote on X (formerly Twitter) and tagging Brave. “But of course my goal is come back to UFC because it is the number 1 promotion in the world right now!”
Highest paid flyweight fighter in the world right now without holding the title @bravemmaf
But of course my goal is come back to UFC because it is the number 1 promotion in the world right now! pic.twitter.com/qVMIFNMmS5
— Muhammad Mokaev (@muhammadmokaev) September 25, 2024
We have to say, this kind of message is not the way to make it back into the UFC. They hate it when fighters talk about money, especially when that money talk makes them look cheap. Which, let’s not mince words, they absolutely are. But going out there and bragging about how a minor league — even one run by Bahraini royal Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa — is paying you three times as much as UFC did? Not the PR move that gets you in UFC brass’ good books.
But for all his talent in the cage, Mokaev was never known for making the best decisions. Even though he knew he was on thin ice with UFC staff he still went through with an insane plan to lure his last opponent Manel Kape into an ambush so he and his team could assault him. Did Kape attack him first in Vegas? Yes. Does that make it any smarter of a move to do when your job is on the line? No.
Mokaev should have saved some of that aggression for the actual cage fight with Kape, which was a dreadful 15 minutes of nothing and the final straw when it came to the UFC releasing him. But then again, now he’s outside the UFC making three times as much money, so perhaps everything worked out the way it should.