Muhammad Mokaev knows how it feels to win in the octagon and still lose with the UFC.
Undefeated bantamweight contender Farid Basharat recently made headlines with the news that the UFC would not be re-signing him following the final fight of his contract this past July. Basharat defeated John Garza at UFC 329 to improve his promotional record to 7-0 and overall record to 16-0, but he believes a lack of finishes and officials not appreciating his fighting style led to his departure. Previously, UFC CEO Dana White cryptically alluded to “reasons” outside of competition for Basharat being allowed to walk.
In 2024, Mokaev experienced a similar rift despite having zero losses on his record, and he is now taking aim at White and the UFC’s practices in defense of Basharat.
“When fighters are getting phone calls from bosses telling them, ‘If you keep wrestling like that, you’re going to get cut,’ then you’re basically telling fighters how you want them to fight,” Mokaev wrote on Twitter. “At what point does that cross the line? Isn’t that influencing the competition?
“And if you want to release a fighter, fine. But don’t then publicly say he was ‘hard to deal with’ or create some bullshit narrative about him that could damage his reputation and make other organizations think twice about signing him. Release fighters if you want. Just don’t try to damage their careers on the way out.”
Like Basharat, Mokaev employed a wrestling-heavy style that didn’t always produce thrilling back-and-forth contests (though Mokaev did score submission victories in four of his seven UFC wins). The nail in the coffin for Mokaev was a disappointing decision win over Manel Kape at UFC 304, where both men produced little meaningful offense. Making matters worse, Mokaev and Kape had an altercation during fight week, with Mokaev admitting he threw the first punch.
Mokaev is 4-0 since parting ways with the UFC, having finished three of his past four opponents, but remains on the outside looking in with his competition going mostly unrecognized by fans in North America. The 26-year-old is currently No. 7 at 125 pounds in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings.