Former UFC flyweight Muhammad Mokaev has booked his first fight since being let go from the UFC when he returns at Brave FC 91 on Dec 13 against Luthando Biko.
First reported by MMAFighting.
Mokaev (12-0) will fight for the first time since beating Manel Kape at UFC 304 in July. Following the event UFC CEO Dana White said that they would not re-sign the flyweight.
“I think the PFL is going to get a great, undefeated guy. Good luck to him,” he said at his post-fight scrum at UFC 304.
White was not happy with some of the stuff Mokaev did behind the scenes including throwing a sucker punch at Kape.
“I always say this, that this is an opportunity to be here and to perform in front of the entire world. He’s just a guy that did everything wrong and pissed these guys off. I wasn’t involved in any of the stuff that happened with him,” White told reporters following DWCS 67.
“The matchmakers and Hunter (Campbell) were (involved), and they weren’t happy with him. They weren’t happy with the way he acted. They weren’t happy with a lot of things he did and said. I guess you can look back now and regret it, but you did it, and you put yourself in this position.”
Mokaev has said that no matter where he signed the ultimate goal is to make his way back to the UFC. He’s told MMA Junkie that he’s been told that he’d be back in the UFC.
“I spoke to Hunter (Campbell) straight after what happened in Manchester. He said, ‘We will see you back in the UFC,’ but maybe they want to see me mature more outside the octagon. Whatever happened, I’m ready to come back now. I’m fighting in BRAVE, so whenever they call me, I’m ready. I want to become UFC champion, and I knew I could because I was very, very close to it,” he said.
Muhammad Mokaev has said he believes he will make his return to the UFC in 2025.
