Muhammad Mokaev's Uncertain Future After UFC Exit
Muhammad Mokaev still doesn’t know why.
More than two years on from the night he extended his unbeaten UFC run to seven fights, the Russian-born Briton is still replaying July 2024 in his head. A unanimous decision win over Manuel Kape at UFC 304 in Manchester, a statement performance against a top contender, a title shot seemingly closing in.
Then, hours later, the floor disappeared.
Dana White stepped to the microphones and announced the UFC would not be re-signing Mokaev. No warning. No public explanation. A flyweight on a seven-fight winning streak, 23 years old, suddenly on the outside.
From the outside, it made no sense. From Mokaev’s side, it still doesn’t.
‘If I’m a bad guy, why let me fight seven times?’
The early theory was simple, and convenient: behaviour.
In the build-up to the Kape fight, Mokaev clashed with his Portuguese rival at the fighters’ hotel and again at the weigh-ins. Tempers flared, cameras rolled, and when the release came, fingers pointed to those incidents as the trigger.
Mokaev rejects that 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.”
He had arrived in Britain as a 12-year-old refugee and fought his way into one of the toughest divisions in the sport. He debuted in the UFC with a submission win in just 58 seconds. Then beat Charles Johnson by unanimous decision in his second outing.
That, he says, is when the first warning sign came.
According to Mokaev, the UFC texted his manager after the Johnson victory with a blunt message: he “needs to stop wrestling – we don't want these decision guys”.
For a fighter built on pressure, control and relentless grappling, it cut deep.
“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.”
A two-year sprint in exile
If the UFC had hoped he would fade quietly, Mokaev chose the opposite route.
You only need to scan his record since July 2024 to see the response. Eight fights in two years. Almost no one at flyweight has been more active.
He has finished opponents with chokes, body kicks, head kicks and punches. He has picked up titles in Brave CF and ACBJJ. He has travelled, signed short deals, stayed ready.
The message has been obvious: if the UFC door opens again, he’ll be in shape to walk straight through it.
So far, it hasn’t.
Despite that run, he has not tempted matchmakers Hunter Campbell, Mick Maynard or Sean Shelby into bringing him back. The conversations exist – Mokaev is even in a WhatsApp group with Campbell and Shelby – but from his perspective, the terms 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.”
For a fighter in his mid-20s, “wasted” is a heavy word. These are supposed to be the years that build legacies, not test patience.
A $10,000 offer and a blunt reply
The most concrete approach he describes since leaving the UFC wasn’t even for MMA.
Mokaev says he was offered $10,000 (£7,399) to compete in UFC BJJ, the promotion’s Brazilian jiu-jitsu competition, against bantamweight champion Mikey Musumeci, a five-time world champion.
The fee, he felt, was insulting. The opportunity, on its own, was not what he wanted. Still, he was willing to take it – but only if it led somewhere.
He says he told the UFC he would face Musumeci if a contract to return to the promotion followed. The response, according to Mokaev, was dismissive: “this is different. BJJ is different. This is different. We have other plans.”
His answer contained “several expletives”, by his own admission. The bridge did not get any sturdier.
Episodes like that have hardened his stance on long-term commitments. He has turned instead to one-fight deals, keeping control of his future in case the UFC stance softens.
There have been bigger, multi-fight offers on the table since 2024. He has listened. He hasn’t jumped.
PFL interest and a crossroads at 26
One of the most serious options has come from the Professional Fighters League. PFL want him in their bantamweight division – they do not currently run a men’s flyweight bracket – but their growing footprint makes them an obvious alternative.
The landscape shifted again when PFL merged with Jake Paul's Most Valuable Promotions in July. If a 125lb division appears, Mokaev admits his resistance might not last.
He says he would be tempted to sign if PFL created a flyweight class, giving him a natural home and a clear route to major fights outside the UFC banner.
For now, though, he keeps the calendar full and the options open.
“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.”
That line hints at the real pressure beneath the public frustration. This is no longer just about pride, or proving a point to matchmakers. It’s about income, stability, and making sure the prime of his career doesn’t disappear in a holding pattern.
Mokaev has already shown he can win in the UFC. He has shown he can win outside it. The question that now hangs over his future is simple and sharp: will the next chapter of his prime play out under the lights of the Octagon, or will he be forced to build his legacy somewhere else?
