Bryce Mitchell can stay, but Muhammad Mokaev annoyed the UFC so badly he’ll never return.
Former flyweight contender and UFC cast-off Muhammad Mokaev was sighted at the Saudi Arabia debut of Dana White’s Power Slap league, but don’t think that means we might see him back in the Octagon any time soon.
Despite being 7-0 in the UFC and 11-0 in MMA overall, Mokaev fought out his contract and wasn’t offered a new one by the UFC. The only thing he got was a stiff kick out the door by UFC CEO Dana White, who declared the promotion was sick of dealing with Muhammad and wasn’t interested in working with him any more.
We don’t know exactly what led to this level of dislike towards Mokaev. Yes, he had two stinkers back to back where he deployed lay-n-pray to smother his opponents. Yes, he also got into numerous outside-the-cage brawls and incidents. But he’s also undeniably a top five contender at flyweight.
In the same post-Power Slap interview where White shrugged off Bryce Mitchell’s pro-Hitler comments, he reiterated that Mokaev was done with UFC.
This is absolutely insane. The most talented flyweight in MMA period is Muhammad Mokaev.
He belongs in the premier organization…The UFC.
Re-sign him.
— JG (@JakeGerberMMA) January 30, 2025
“I didn’t see him or talk to him,” White said to a reporter asking about Mokaev. “Listen, I thought I made that pretty clear. Sean [Shelby], Hunter [Campbell], and Mick [Maynard] did not like working with him. And they did not want to re-sign him.”
“He’s a free agent, he could be a world champion somewhere else. And maybe they’ll like him better than Sean, Mick, and Hunter do.”
Mokaev currently competes for Brave CF where he won his last bout via D’arce in the first round. He may need a few more finishes and some rich Royal patron going to bat for him if he ever wants to make it back into the UFC.