Muhammad Mokaev's Uncertain Future After UFC Exit
Muhammad Mokaev still doesn’t have an answer.
More than two years after the UFC cut him loose, the Russian-born Briton is winning, finishing fights, collecting belts – and yet the phone call he wants most has never come.
From title trajectory to shock exit
Roll back to July 2024. Mokaev had just gone seven from seven in the UFC, extending his unbeaten run with a clear unanimous decision over Manuel Kape at UFC 304 in Manchester.
The setting felt perfect. A surging 23-year-old, fighting in Britain, beating a seasoned contender. The win looked like another step towards a flyweight title shot. On paper, he had everything a promotion could want: youth, momentum, a strong record, a compelling backstory.
Then came the twist.
Later that night, UFC president Dana White announced the organisation would not be re-signing him. No slow fade, no warning signs. Just a clean break with one of the division’s most promising names.
Speculation quickly circled around his behaviour in fight week. Mokaev had clashed with Kape at the hotel and again at the weigh-ins, incidents that drew attention and criticism. It was easy to join the dots and blame the out-of-cage friction.
Mokaev rejects that theory outright.
“If we talk about behaviour, right – if I'm a bad guy, why would you let me fight seven fights and renew my contract twice?” he told BBC Sport. “If I'm a bad guy in the company and organisation, they would cut me after one or two fights.”
‘They don’t want these decision guys’
The flyweight, who arrived in Britain as a 12-year-old refugee, believes the real issue lies elsewhere: his style.
He burst into the UFC with a statement – a submission win in just 58 seconds in his debut. He followed it by outworking Charles Johnson over three rounds for a unanimous decision.
That second victory, he says, triggered a message that still stings.
According to Mokaev, the UFC texted his manager after the Johnson fight with a blunt assessment: “he needs to stop wrestling – we don't want these decision guys.”
He points to the numbers as his defence. Four of his seven UFC wins came by finish. A 60% finish rate in a division not exactly known for one-shot knockouts.
“I have around a 60% finish rate in the UFC. Four out of seven fights were finishes against top guys,” he said. “I don't know what else I need to do to show them – I was 21 when I was fighting these veterans and now I'm much better and much stronger.
“From 21 to 23, I beat all these guys. Even Manuel Kape, and he is ranked number two right now. I really don't understand the politics. I really don't know. I wish I knew the full story behind everything.”
The confusion hasn’t slowed him down. If anything, it has driven him into overdrive.
Two years, eight fights, still no call
Look at his schedule since that summer of 2024 and the picture is clear: Mokaev refused to drift.
Few flyweights on the planet have been as active. Eight fights in two years. Different promotions, different continents, same outcome – he keeps winning.
He has finished opponents with chokes, body kicks, head kicks and punches. He has added titles in Brave CF and ACBJJ to his résumé, proving he can dominate both in MMA and grappling.
Yet none of it has moved the needle in Las Vegas.
Hunter Campbell, Mick Maynard, Sean Shelby – the trio who shape UFC rosters – have not brought him back. The silence feels even more jarring given Mokaev is in a WhatsApp group with Campbell and Shelby.
From his perspective, the targets keep shifting.
“Hunter made me a promise. They basically wasted two years of my life,” Mokaev said. “That's how I feel right now. I don't think what they are doing is right.”
A $10,000 offer and a line in the sand
The relationship frayed further with an offer that Mokaev saw as an insult.
He says the UFC put $10,000 on the table for him to compete in UFC BJJ, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu event, against bantamweight champion Mikey Musumeci – a five-time world champion and one of the sport’s elite technicians.
The fee, in Mokaev’s eyes, did not match the scale of the challenge. Still, he was willing to take it, on one condition: a UFC contract afterwards.
That was a step too far for the promotion. “They said, 'no, this is different. BJJ is different. This is different. We have other plans.' I told them where to go,” Mokaev said, admitting his response contained several expletives.
The episode hardened his stance. If the UFC would not commit to him, he would not commit to anyone else for too long.
One-fight deals and a future in flux
Since 2024, Mokaev has turned to one-fight contracts, keeping himself free in case the UFC changes course. The approach costs him security, but preserves his leverage.
More lucrative, multi-fight offers have landed on his desk. He has listened. He has not signed.
Not yet.
One of the most serious came from the Professional Fighters League. The PFL wanted him in its bantamweight division, a weight class up from his natural 125lb home, because it does not currently run a men’s flyweight bracket.
The picture could shift again after PFL’s merger with Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions in July. If a 125lb division appears, Mokaev admits it would be hard to ignore.
For now, he keeps his options open and his schedule busy.
“I want to stay active because I'm still young. I just turned 26 – most people start their careers at this age,” he said. “I'm going to do what's best for my family.”
He has the wins, the finishes, the belts. What he doesn’t have is closure. Whether that comes in the form of a UFC return or a new home elsewhere may define the prime years of a career that refuses to slow down.
