Bishop (9-2) was not happy during parts of her past PFL season, questioning some of the promotion’s matchmaking in particular. Things have changed in the ongoing World Tournament, which has employed a grand prix format.

Speaking to Cageside Press a few weeks back, after booking her date with Carmouche care of a submission win over Ekaterina Shakalova, Bishop noted that “everything’s been good this year. A lot of the things changed with the format of the tournament. I think that’s a little bit better, and just me understanding how things work with them [the PFL], and everybody’s kind of adjusted to the changes, and a little bit more settled after last year.”

So much was unknown following the merger between Bellator and the PFL, added Bishop. “I think it’s just in a little bit better spot. For me, I just need to have clarity, and I have plenty of that. This year’s been pretty good.”

Now, she heads into a fight with Carmouche, a woman who has more high-level MMA experience than just about anyone. Carmouche, of course, fought Ronda Rousey in the first ever women’s UFC fight. She faced Valentina Shevchenko for flyweight gold, and won Bellator’s 125lb title. Bishop, however, has her own experience, as a highly decorated jiu-jitsu artist.

“I think just, there’s nothing that you can do to gain that experience in jiu-jitsu, and getting to that skill level, without having the years that I’ve had, and the tournament experience, and going up against the highest level of competition. So MMA is definitely a different thing, but my style of jiu-jitsu translates really well to MMA. So I think that that definitely gives me an edge,” she said during Wednesday’s PFL Charlotte media day.

As for taking on a veteran like Carmouche, “it’s a cool opportunity just to go up against somebody that’s been doing it so long, that’s been, just kind of like started at the highest level of women’s MMA,” Bishop stated. “She brought it into the UFC, one of the first there. It’s a great opportunity for me I think.”

For anyone viewing Jena Bishop as an underdog, well, you won’t be hurting her feelings any time soon.

“I feel like I’m indifferent. Like I don’t care. I’m just here to fight. I try to not pay attention to what anyone else says, because honestly it doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is the opinions of the people that are closest to me. I know what they think, so everything else is like noise.”

Watch our interview, and Jena Bishop’s PFL Charlotte media day appearance, above. The event takes place this Friday, August 15, 2025 at the Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The post Jena Bishop Indifferent About Being Underdog at PFL Charlotte appeared first on Cageside Press.

Lightweight Fiziev (13-4) returned to the win column for the first time since 2022 with a unanimous decision victory over Ignacio Bahamondes at UFC Baku last month. The card was the promotion’s debut in Fiziev’s native Azerbaijan.

“Win is win, it’s always good. Last couple years, I had three losses, I missed that feeling,” he told Cageside Press in an exclusive interview. “Having a win in my home, in my land, in my city, that’s more than I can wish. So good.”

It wasn’t just three losses, but injuries also weighing on Fiziev. That was a rocky road for the talented lightweight, one that was hard to contend with. “It’s my life. Because I love fighting. I’ve fought since 11 years old. For me, this life, I don’t see myself in other ways. I just know, okay, now I have injuries, now I have a bad time, but I will heal, I will come back.”

In particular, Fiziev maintained his faith in his abilities. “I believe in my power. I can be a top five, I can be a champion, I can fight with top guys and I can give them a good fight, and I’m not an easy guy. I always know that. If we can say this motivated me, this is my motivation.”

While Fiziev had floated the idea of a move to 145lbs, especially after coming in low for his second fight with Justin Gaethje, it appears featherweight is off the table. “Now I gained my weight more, my muscles’ come back. With a good camp, I have big muscles. I cannot go to 145, so 155 for me, it’s a good one.”

What’s up next is a question. He was once booked against Dan Hooker, which is a fight he’d gladly accept again. “I don’t think he’s agreed for this fight now,” noted Fiziev, indicating the fight may not materialize any time soon. There are other names, however. “Now [Beneil] Dariush has come back to the win [column],” he pointed out. At the same time, Fiziev isn’t eager to call out any names, because they rarely agree to fight him.

“In my career, I count only one guy who says yes. Two guys, maybe. First one is [Rafael] dos Anjos, and second one is [Justin] Gaethje. I called them both and they said ‘yes, let’s do this fight.’ But other guys, it’s always like, I called somebody, but UFC gives me some different guy. I called Dan Hooker, I’m ready to fight him if he’s ready. Dariush. I don’t know who doesn’t have a fight now. Gamrot. Who’s ready to fight? If UFC gives me somebody, I’m happy to fight with them. But I can’t say now, some names, like ‘aww I want to fight this guy.'”

“[Mateusz] Gamrot last time he said yes, then after a few days he started to call out Paddy Pimblett. Like ‘hey Paddy let’s fight,'” added Fiziev. “This business sometimes, [you’re] going crazy.”

Still, with luck we’ll be seeing Rafael Fiziev back in action by the end of the year.

The post Rafael Fiziev Rules Out 145 Move, Says He’s Only Counted On Two Guys to Actually Fight Him appeared first on Cageside Press.

Never one to sandbag when it comes to combat sports Cejudo will take on the 8th ranked Song Yadong in the main event.

“You guys can witness a damn assassination man. You guys are going to witness a live assassination. Song Yadong you ain’t that long,” Cejudo told Cageside Press.

Cejudo’s camp headquarters has been in Scottsdale, Arizona at Fight Ready where he has been preparing for battle. That remains the same for this camp as he prepares for his main event fight in Seattle.

“Camp has been good man. Different training regimens and adding science stuff to help out my cardio and doing my best to stay injury free,” he said.

‘Triple C’ has been quite busy outside of the octagon in 2024 building up his beloved podcast “Pound 4 Pound” with his co-host Kamaru Usman. Cejudo and Usman have been able to grow exponentially getting some of the biggest names in combat sports and the sports world in general.

“Besides Kamaru Usman being on Nigerian time it was a hell of a podcast man. We had Canelo Alvarez, Shaquille O’Neal, Dana White, GSP, Terrance Crawford. We’re super stoked with everyone we have had on and this year is going to bring in other heavy hitters as well. We have Tom Brady coming in the first quarter of this year and we’re just trying to give back to the fans,” said Cejudo.

In a world where opportunities are there to be seized, certainly for someone like Cejudo, a dream scenario with gold at the end of it seems to be possible for the former champ-champ. Would he return to the flyweight division to challenge champion, and former student Alexandre Pantoja, for the title?

The coach vs. the student would be a hell of a tag line for the fight.

“Sometimes you gotta show the student what you have taught them,” Cejudo said. “It’s a possibility man, Something I have been thinking about for awhile now. If it happens it has to happen now because I’m turning 38 but I still feel good man.”

Cejudo also stated in the sit down with Cageside Press that if Pantoja didn’t want to fight him he would respect that due to how close they are.

“I love Pantoja man. I don’t thing there is better human on this earth I admire his heart. If Pantoja didn’t want to fight I probably wouldn’t it’s to that extent. He’s welcomed all challenges and said it would be an honor to fight me so we will see what happens,” he said.

A self-described “Thick boy” Cejudo admitted that 125 is a very tough cut, but if he could make the cut, he could make things interesting at flyweight.

He just has to let the “Burrato murratos” go as fellow former champ Khabib Nurmagomedov suggested.

“I am dude! No more Burritos or none of that and to be honest dude the UFC can do me a favor for what I did for them knocking out a dude on EPO in 32 seconds,” said Cejudo.

Cejudo is as highly decorated as they come. Multiple wrestling titles, including an Olympic gold medal in Beijing in 2008, and two UFC titles in two different divisions make him a shoe-in for the UFC Hall Of Fame when it’s all wrapped up.

With that kind of resume Cejudo’s motivations for continuing the journey are personal and close to his heart.

“Honestly dude I have done everything dude. My family, entertaining the fans, creating storylines and if I was worth 40 million to like Khabib I probably wouldn’t do this either. It’s tad bits of everything dude and I want to leave this sport on top,” he said.

Fully focused on his upcoming fight against Song in Seattle, and the chance at getting into the mix at two weight classes, Cejudo will attempt to show he has what it takes to get back on top.

Time will tell if Cejudo can turn back the clock and show that he can still be a prime Triple C.

“Song doesn’t have that long dong that you guys think he does and that he’s gonna bend the knee and everybody watching should also bend a knee to KING TRIPLE C,” he said.

Watch the full interview with Henry Cejudo above. 

The post Henry Cejudo: “You guys can witness a damn assassination” At UFC Seattle appeared first on Cageside Press.

A former GLORY kickboxer, Almeida was 1-1 in his UFC run to date, and coming off a loss against Roman Kopylov. Potieria was 2-3 in his last five, and entering off his own loss to Michel “Demolidor” Pereira.

The start of the first round was a battle of technical kickboxing. Potieria had a lot of success early in the fight going to the body against Almeida which opened up some nice left hands. Almeida had a lot of success of his own using his kicks and countering Potieria in the first round. Potieria decided to mix in his grappling landing a takedown after a couple of tries. Almeida however showed that he had worked on that part of his game after his last time out against Kopylov.

The start of the second round wasn’t off to the best start. Almeida eye poked Potieria but the ref dismissed it and then shortly after, Almeida followed that foul with a shot to the groin area. Right after that Almeida seemed to have poked Potieria again with no point deduction. The fight resumed, inexplicably a third eye poke followed, but wasn’t called. Potieria went back to his grappling but Almeida was able to get back to his feet and do some grappling of his own with a tight mounted guillotine. He was able to use it to mount Potieria and land some nasty ground and pound from the top position.

Most people didn’t expect the middleweight pair to make it to round three but they were able to get there. The third round started with another eye poke that the ref didn’t pay any mind to. Ultimate Finger-poking Championship was in full swing. The two fighters were extremely tired throughout this final round but that was to be expected with the high altitude in Salt Lake City. Ultimately, Almeida was able to kick box his way to victory and counter the grappling approach of Potieria. Despite roughly five eye pokes and a groin shot, Almeida did what he’s known for with his kickboxing.

Almeida is now 2-1 in the UFC and can look to build off of this win. He did a lot of things better in comparison to his last outing, and made tons of improvements for this fight that showed. This was a huge win for his MMA career at UFC 307.

Official Result: Cesar Almeida def. Ihor Potieria by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

The post UFC 307: Cesar Almeida Beats Ihor Potieria in Foul-Filled Fight appeared first on Cageside Press.

Nelson (16-5-1) was earned a top 15 fight against Calvin Kattar, but due to injury, the fight was shelved. Lucky for ‘The Monster’, Garcia stepped up on short-notice, and Nelson got a shot at making it four-wins in a row. He came into UFC Vegas 97 off victories over Blake Bilder, Fernando Padilla and Bill Algeo.

Garcia (16-5) is one of the more underrated featherweights and came into this one on a four-fight win streak. Victories over Chase Hooper, Shayilan Nuerdanbieke, Melquizael Costa, and Seung Woo Choi set him up for a date with Nelson.

Steve Garcia found himself in deep water in the first thirty seconds of the first round allowing Nelson to take his back. Nelson seemed to be taking things slow to control the position and look for a possible submission. Nelson saw a chance to go for the arm bar and Garcia saw a chance to capitalize and slip out into top position landing some of his nasty ground and pound. Garcia landed some nasty elbows leaving a knot on the back of Nelson’s head. The up and coming contender was able to hurt Nelson with a nasty elbow leading to the ground and pound finish.

Steve Garcia put on a great comeback performance in the first round and this was a huge win for his career. Nelson is no easy task and Garcia proved he was up for the task winning his 5th fight in a row stating “As a boy I was praying for moments like these praise god were going for it baby”. Bisping asked Garcia “What was going through your mind when he had your back?” Garcia replied, “I’m a dummy”.

Result: Steve Garcia def. Kyle Nelson via TKO, 3:59

The post Steve Garcia Scores 5th Straight Knockout At UFC Vegas 97 appeared first on Cageside Press.

Peek (9-2) began his UFC career following his win at Contender Series with a first round knockout of Erick Gonzalez in February 2023. Since then he’s gone 1-2 with losses to Chepe Mariscal and Charlie Campbell, but scoring a win over Mohammad Yahya at UFC 294.

Ashmouz (7-1) came out on fire with an impressive win over Sam Patterson via first round TKO at UFC 298, but then lost to Chris Duncan just 4 months later. Coming off a 13-month layoff he hoped to get back to winning against Peek.

Trevor Peek spent the first half of round number one trying to be calculated and calmer than the Peek the world is used to. Peek used his leg kicks well for the most part and landed a few good body shots. Ashmouz was able to capitalize and take Peek down off a punch peek loaded up on. Peek was able to get up but Ashmouz was able to control the clinch for the most part the rest of the round.

Heading into the second round it seemed Ashmouz was waiting for Peek to throw so he could counter with a punch or takedown. Peek started the first half of the round really good hurting Ashmouz a couple of times with stinging right hands. Peek started to work the body to open up the shots to the head but Ashmouz was able to capitalize on his wrestling again. Peek tried to use some of his offesnive wrestling in the second round but Ashmouz was able to defend and put Peek back on the ground slamming him for a 7th takedown to end the second round.

Peek was having a hard time finding Ashmouz there to be hit but he wasn’t going to go down without fight. In the third and final round Peek stepped on the gas and seemed to sting Ashmouz with a few more right hands and an uppercut. However it didn’t take long for Ashmouz to go back to the well with is wrestling that worked majority of this fight. Peek was not an easy task to keep down as he got out of the clinch and got into a brawling exchange with Ashmouz. Ashmouz was able to get Peek back up against the cage to end the round with another takedown.

The Red Fox had a very impressive performance against Trevor Peek who is not exactly the easiest fight to take the way he fights. Ashmouz stated after his dominant 30-27 victory “We know he’s an agressive guy so we just worked on timing the takedowns that was the plan”. Trevor Peek is now on a two fight skid following this loss and will need to get a huge win next time out.

Result: Yanal Ashmouz def. Trevor Peel via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28×2)

The post Yanal Ashmouz Grinds His Way To Decision Win appeared first on Cageside Press.

Dulgarian (6-1) kicked off his UFC career with an impressive finish of Francis Marshall last August, but then dropped a split-decision to Christian Rodriguez this past March. He took on Marotte hoping to right the ship once more.

Marotte (8-2) stumbled in his first UFC bout as he lost a short-notice bout via highlight reel knockout against Terrance McKinney. With a full camp under his belt for this one he got the always tough Dulgarian in the octagon.

Dulgarian didn’t take long to get his pressure and offense going in the first round of the fight landing an early takedown leading him right into mount. Dulgarian was able to take the back in the round but was not able to find the finish. However Dulgarian landed tons of damage in the round with elbows and punches. The offense was non existent for Marotte in round one which possibly led to a 10-8 round in the first.

The second round got off to the same start as Dulgarian used a blast double to slam Marotte to the ground putting him back in control. Marotte ground defense was not enough to challenge the wrestling of Dulgarian. Dulgarian went for the arm triangle in the first round and went back to the well with it in round two ending the fight with a dominant submission victory over Brendan Marotte.

Marotte in his two fights with the UFC has not been great losing both of his fights by finish. Dulgarian said after the fight “I want to dedicate this fight to my daughter, I had her after my fight with Christian Rodriguez and she changed my life”. Dulgarian has a lot of upside and looks like he could be a huge problem in his division with his wrestling skills. Issac Dulgarian moves to 7-1 in his career with a lot more to come.

Result: Isaac Dulgarian def. Brendon Marotte via R2 SUB (Arm Triangle), 4:19

The post Isaac Dulgarian Blitzes Marotte, Gets R2 Submission appeared first on Cageside Press.

That would be former UFC heavyweight Mark Hunt’s lawsuit against the promotion, which was initially launched in 2016, dismissed in 2021, revived on appeal, and dismissed again, with Hunt ordered to pay attorney’s fees and court costs to the UFC last year. A second ruling, reducing those fees and questioning why the UFC was demanding $20,000 more per expert witness than the law allows, was issued this part March.

Hunt, however, is nothing if not obstinate, refusing to let the case die. In April, he filed a motion to unseal all documents obtained through the discovery process in his RICO lawsuit against the promotion. His appeal of the case continues, before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Among the arguments present in the appeal, a claim that UFC CEO and President Dana White perjured himself in testimony given in 2022, when he stated that he had no knowledge of Brock Lesnar being granted an exemption from USADA testing ahead of UFC 200 in 2016.

USADA officials previously confirmed to Cageside Press that the UFC, and UFC alone, had the power to issue such exemptions.

Lesnar defeated Hunt by decision at the historic event, only for it to turn out that he had failed a drug test, administered prior to the card on July 9, 2016. Results were, according to those involved, not available until after the fact. Hunt cried foul, and despite continuing to fight several more times for the company, took legal action against them.

“I’ve still got an active lawsuit against them, it’s the same lawsuit I filed nearly a decade ago. It was thrown out the first time, well the only time it’s been thrown out, is because I had some crooked lawyers,” Hunt told Cageside Press in a new interview, barely more than a week after the UFC’s antitrust lawsuit settlement was struck down by a Nevada judge. “My first set of lawyers were crooked, they were paid off probably by Dana and his cohorts,” Hunt alleged. “That lady, Christina Denning, sabotaged my case, they had a summary judgement and threw the whole thing out because there was no evidence provided – because she wouldn’t provide any evidence. So she’s a criminal, and because of her malpractice it went nowhere.”

Denning represented Hunt through years of the legal process, including in the immediate aftermath of UFC 200, even negotiating with the UFC on behalf of Hunt after the fighter turned down a bout with Junior Dos Santos over unacceptable terms.

“Over a year ago I filed an appeal, it was approved in two days. I was made pro se as a litigant,” added Hunt. “It’s hard to explain a civil RICO lawsuit in 20 minutes or 30 minutes. What I can tell you is, where it sits now, we’re just waiting for the judge’s orders. If you’re familiar with RICO, they’ve got a lot of issues, Dana White, he’ll be going to jail with the rest of these criminals that were part of this RICO contravention.”

Of course, Hunt’s matter remains before the courts, and any punitive measures for White and the UFC remain to be seen, given the case is as yet unproven. Under RICO laws, anyone convicted of two acts of racketeering in a ten year period can be sentenced to up to twenty years in prison, and fined $25,000 while forced to forfeit any ill-gotten gains.

Hunt, who once stated that “I don’t care if you’re cheating or not. I’ll punch your face in” in the weeks prior to UFC 200, now recognizes that fighting performance enhancing drug users was likely hazardous to his health.

“As I’ve gone in my career, I fought against juicers that always ruined the fight. Whether it was a good fight, a win or a loss, it was always not good for my record. It wasn’t good for my health also,” Hunt admitted. And whether a given fight became a no contest, whether he won or lost, Hunt added that he “always said to those in charge, ‘can you do something about it?'”

“A couple of times before that Brock Lesnar incident, there was a fight, Alistair Overeem, a few other guys. I did say, ‘can you do something about it?'”

Even before the Overeem fight, Hunt noted, when he fought Frank Mir, “he popped. I said ‘can you do something about it, Dana?’ he said ‘no, it’s up to USADA.’ Bigfoot Silva, again, I said ‘can you do something about the fight, can you do something about this? I don’t give a sh*t about his money, just don’t give him any money. I don’t want to get any money.'”

According to Hunt, White again told him that action taken over fighters taking PEDs was up to USADA. “As I go on with my lawsuit and find discovery, USADA’s part of their pocket. They’re all in cahoots, the whole lot of them. The L.A. [California] commission, USADA, Jeff Novitzky, Dana White, all of them have been colluding against me. They’ve been colluding together for over a decade.”

Part of Hunt’s appeal, several pages of which dated from May which he previously posted online, alleges that Jeff Novitzky, Senior Vice President of Athlete Health and Performance for the UFC, circulated an e-mail ahead of UFC 200 instructing UFC staff on how to handle the “optics” of Lesnar’s exemption from USADA testing in the months ahead of his fight with Hunt – the same exemption Dana White professed to be unaware of.

Hunt went on to note that no one from the promotion ever reached out to him over the number of cheating fighters he was forced to share the cage with, and takes umbrage with the lack of an apology. Beyond that, “if they’re not going to do something about it, I will. Despite the millions, millions of people laughing and mocking me and saying ‘you can’t do that, they’re a billion dollar company’ – I don’t give a sh*t if they’re a billion dollar company. When you’re doing the wrong thing, you’re doing the wrong thing. You’re billion dollar company could be ended in an instant with a RICO lawsuit.”

Mark Hunt would later suggest that the UFC’s split with USADA in 2023 came about in part because of his lawsuit, which has also focused on the anti-doping agency.

“The reason I stood up against the UFC was, they said to me, ‘we’ve got the best testing policies in the globe, in the world. We’ve got USADA, we’ve got a guy in Jeff Novitzky that caught Lance Armstrong. Okay, okay motherf*ckers, great. Cool. But as I found out through discovery [in the lawsuit], USADA was in their pocket. They were all colluding against me, the whole lot of them. I can’t f*cking believe it. It’s f*cking ridiculous, and this sh*t’s evident.”

“That’s one of the reasons why I feel USADA left, when they broke up with the UFC, is because they tried to push Conor McGregor through, and then that f*cking USADA idiot says ‘oh no we can’t do that again.’ Why? Is it because you’ve got a f*cking lawsuit against you, motherf*cker? That’s right, it’s because you’ve got a f*cking lawsuit that’s going to break your ass right here and now, and UFC wants to put through another guy and give them another exemption? That ain’t happening, man.”

The UFC and USADA partnership closed out at the end of 2023, with a very public spat emerging between the promotion and USADA CEO Travis Tygart. That dispute was in part over whether or not McGregor would qualify for an exemption from testing upon returning to action following the leg injury he sustained in his 2021 rubber match with Dustin Poirier.

UFC officials staunchly denied that any such exemption would be forthcoming. McGregor has yet to make his return, but the UFC’s relationship with the anti-doping body had already soured, leaving them to partner up with Drug Free Sport and the newly formed Combat Sports Anti-Doping – the latter a body funded by the promotion itself and led by former FBI agent George Piro.

The post Mark Hunt Gives Update on Lawsuit Against UFC appeared first on Cageside Press.

Pineda had never been to a decision and won, something that had not been a problem for Wood, who was 6-2 to start the night before the judges.

The first round was off to a nice start with both fighters making their reads. Pineda tried to go to his wrestling with Wood defending nicely. Wood landed a nice front kick that hurt Pineda and put him in the guard of Pineda. Wood did some nice work on top but Pineda who is a specialist on the ground used submission attempts from his back to eventually sweep Wood. Pineda finished the round with some good elbows to end the round and the fight got to see a round two of the highly anticipated featured prelim.

Nathaniel Wood was doing a great job at chopping the legs in round two. He landed a nasty combination that hurt Pineda whose right eye seemed to bother him the rest of the round. Pineda the fighter he is went down swinging to save him from being finished in the second round of the fight. After a quick stoppage for a groin strike to Pineda, Wood seemed to just take over the round dropping him with calf kicks and a stiff jab. Every calf kick was sitting Pineda down. Wood, who was looking spectacular in the second round sat Pineda down with a left hand to finish the round on top.

After domination for most of the fight Pineda fought a much better round in round three. He was successful with his wrestling and was looking for a submission every chance he could while he was on top. Unfortunately, it would not be enough as Nathaniel Wood found a way to hang on for the unanimous decision win Over Daniel Pineda to close out the prelims.

Nathaniel Wood is now 4-1 since moving up to featherweight and he has looked phenomenal. He might just be inching closer to a top 15 ranking in the featherweight division.

Official Result: Nathaniel Wood def. Daniel Pineda by unanimous decision (29–27, 29–27, 29–28)

The post Nathaniel Wood Takes Win at UFC 304, Daniel Pineda Drops Another Decision appeared first on Cageside Press.

A fight that could produce the next title challenger at 125lbs, Mokaev vs. Kape had seen several skirmishes in advance of Fight Night, including at Friday’s ceremonial weigh-ins. With Mokaev undefeated and Kape a former RIZIN champ long seen as a title hopeful, expectations were high heading into the match-up.

The fight couldn’t even start before Kape rushed at Mokaev, having to be stopped by security all around the cage. As much as the fighters seemed to be at each other’s throat in the build up to the fight, it certainly was a very patient first round. Mokaev was able to use his kicks to keep Kape at bay for the entire first round. Kape got going a little towards the end of the round hitting Mokaev with a right hand that forced Mokaev to shoot to end the round.

THESE TWO CAN'T WAIT TO PUT THEIR HANDS ON EACH OTHER 😱@MuhammadMokaev vs @ManelKape is LIVE RIGHT NOW on @ESPNPlus! #UFC304 pic.twitter.com/5crF0UShG3

— UFC (@ufc) July 28, 2024

The second round got underway with Mokaev landing a huge right hand but in the exchange Kape seemed to have hurt his toe, potentially breaking it. Mokaev finally had success with his wrestling but grabbed Kape’s shorts blatantly. Mike Beltran, the referee of the bout, had to intervene and issue a very strong warning, taking the position away. Mokaev was able to keep Kape away with kicks most of the round even though Kape was the pressure fighter. Kape seemed to have an issue moving around on his right foot, not surprisingly. Ten minutes into the fight and their was still not much action, but Mokaev was the busier fighter through two rounds.

In the third and final round Mokaev was able to have success taking down Kape who tried to jump guillotine. Mokaev was able to slip out eventually but ate some nasty elbows from Kape in return. Mokaev seemed to have for a knee bar but Kape was able to defend to get back to his feet. The round ended in a couple of scrambles with Mokaev hanging on for a unanimous decision win on the cards. The two seemed to have bury the hatchet after the fight sharing a hug and some words.

Mokaev called for fans after the fight to “give a clap for Manel Kape,” calling him a great fighter. Daniel Cormier asked him what he wanted next and Mokaev stated “I want a title shot.” After this win over Manel Kape he might just be on his way to a date with UFC flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja.

Official Result: Muhammad Mokaev def. Manel Kape by unanimous decision (29–28, 29–28, 30–27)

The post Injured Toe Hampers Manel Kape, Muhammad Mokaev Wins UFC 304 Grudge Match appeared first on Cageside Press.