Muhammad Mokaev contradicts Dana White's claim about UFC feud as he insists he turned down promotional rival
02/04/2025 09:10 AM
Former UFC flyweight contender Muhammad Mokaev parted ways with the promotion following his seventh consecutive win last July.
After defeating Manel Kape at UFC 304, Mokaev’s hopes of being the next title challenger at 125-pounds were swiftly cut short when Dana White announced that the promotion would not be renewing his contract.
The UFC president cited that the matchmakers and backroom staff no longer wanted to work with ‘The Punisher’ due to his conduct outside of the cage.
Whilst his performances inside the Octagon didn’t exactly do enough to counteract that, the 24-year-old is clearly one of the best fighters in his division at such a young age.
Though Mokaev has made his return to MMA, producing a first round submission win at BRAVE CF 91, it’s clear that he is still optimistic about re-joining the UFC at some point in the future.
Muhammad Mokaev disputes Dana White’s recent comments
During a recent press conference for Power Slap, with Muhammad Mokaev in attendance for the event in Saudi Arabia, Dana White once again made it clear that they have no intentions to rebuild that bridge at this time.
“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,” White told the media. "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."
In a social media response that was seemingly posted from the wrong account, Mokaev claims that this doesn’t tell the full story.
He says that contrary to what White stated, he is on good terms with Campbell and Maynard.
Mokaev also claims that he turned down a PFL contract in another display of his loyalty to the UFC which is the only promotion that he wants to fight for.
“@muhammadmokaev reveals he rejected a PFL contract offered to him and still has a good relationship with @huntercampbell & Mick Maynard. He says they will talk together about his future soon and that he only wants to fight for the UFC! Per @mmavestnik interview!”
Will Muhammad Mokaev ever make it back to the Octagon?
It’s certainly not unreasonable to think that Muhammad Mokaev would have already secured a UFC title shot had he remained with the promotion.
The flyweight division might be in a strong place right now but there aren’t many new and exciting challenges for the current champion, Alexandre Pantoja, hence why Kai Asakura went straight into a title fight at UFC 310 in December.
For Mokaev, it seems very unlikely that he’s going to be able to change Dana White’s mind and though we don’t know how the matchmakers truly feel about him, the fact of the matter is that he likely wants to be in the UFC more than they want him.
The current focus for ‘The Punisher’ should be to continue racking up wins, making some noise and proving himself to be the best flyweight that isn’t on the roster.
If he’s able to do that, perhaps he can make himself undeniable of being worthy of a second chance.
