UFC flyweight Muhammad Mokaev moved one step closer to becoming the UFC’s youngest champion after yet another finish this past weekend at UFC 286.
Unfortunately for the 22-year-old, fighters in the top 10 of the flyweight division aren’t too keen on fighting him, which resulted in him having to take a fight with a UFC debutant just to stay active.
In his win over Jafel Filho this past Saturday, he had to show his grit and desire to break out of a devastating knee bar in which he claimed he heard his knee ‘crack three times’. On the lead up to his fight with Filho though, the talking points surrounded his rivalry with fellow British prospect, Jake Hadley.
At the UFC 286 media day on Wednesday, Hadley claimed that Mokaev tried to initiate a fight with him at the fighter hotel, but Hadley was focussed on not ruining the status of his own fight.
The aforementioned Hadley was also victorious this weekend, beating Malcolm Gordon in the first round which led to media members asking Mokaev about the potential of them finally fighting sooner rather than later.
“To be honest I want to fight tough guys, there’s tougher guys, Matheus Nicolau there’s Amir Albazi there’s top 10, I want to fight hard guys who knock me down I get back up, I want guys like this. Going backwards (he’s the exact level) for me as Malcolm Gordon, I think he’s nothing special but if he enters top 12 or 11 it’s possible.
“But now I go back again, I beat him and they’ll say, ‘you beat Jake Hadley he’s like a crackhead from Birmingham’.” Mokaev said.
Unfortunately for the British fight fans, it seems unlikely that a fight between these two men will happen, unless completely necessary.
Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Muhammad Mokaev above.
