MUHAMMAD MOKAEV has had to come to terms with the crushing realisation that one of his career dreams has gone up in smoke.
The Russian-born Brit entered the UFC in 2022 hellbent on achieving a goal he set for himself during his IMMAAF days – becoming the youngest champion in the promotion’s history.
That title was held by current heavyweight champion Jon Jones, who won the light-heavyweight strap as a fresh-faced 23-year-old thirteen years ago.
Despite suffering a horror knee injury last March, ferocious flyweight Mokaev seemed on course to break that record.
But a combination of that injury and flyweights above him in the rankings not wanting to fight him have scuppered his grand plans, which officially fell by the wayside last week.
In an exclusive interview with SunSport, ‘The Punisher’ said: “I’m not angry because it was out of my hands.
“When I came to the UFC, I said, ‘This is my dream.’ Ninety-nine per cent of people thought, ‘This guy is delusional.
“‘He’s a lunatic. Youngest UFC champion, what is he talking about?’ I was young, I was 21 when I came to the UFC.
“I believed so much in my skills and my mindset, even after my big injury.
“People were saying, ‘He’ll never be back again fighting, he should’ve tapped.’ I beat two ex-title contenders later.
“I think if the UFC wanted me to break this record, they would have done it.”
Flyweight gold will be up for grabs when MMA‘s top promotion returns to Brazil in May for defending champion Alexandre Pantoja’s second title defence against UFC rookie Steve Erceg.
Fight fans around the world were left stunned by the booking of the fight, although none of them were as perplexed as Mokaev – the owner of the longest win streak in the division.
“I was angry [when I saw the announcement],” Mokaev admitted. “I’m like, ‘Why?’ Okay if you give it to Kai Kara-France or if you give it to somebody in the top five.”
Mokaev extended his win streak earlier this month with a decision win over former title challenger Alex Perez but was far from impressed with his performance, which he believes may have contributed to Erceg’s shock title tilt.
He continued: “I would have been like, ‘Okay, my performance wasn’t great. The UFC doesn’t want to see these boring decisions.’
“But I’m on the second longest winning streak in flyweight history after Demetrious Johnson. Now, in the UFC, I have the No.1 active winning streak.
“I have more finishes than Erceg has fights in the UFC. I don’t know why they’ve done this.
“Okay, if they look at his knockout of Matt Schnell, but “I did a better finish against Cody Durden.
“Who was also in the top 15 a couple of months ago before he lost. I just don’t understand why they did this [fight].”
Mokaev has already come to terms with the disappointing realisation that he won’t be breaking Jones’ record and will have to fight one more time to earn a title shot.
His sights are set on recent title challenger Brandon Royval, whom he wants to throw down with the UK this summer.
SunSport understands the UFC brass are weighing up a return to Britain later this year, although nothing has been finalised.
Should the card come to fruition, Mokaev hopes to punch his ticket to a title fight with a dominant win over the American.
Mokaev said of the potential clash: “I said recently, ‘Give me Royval.’
“‘And if I don’t finish Royval, in the summer, I don’t want the title shot.’
“I’m gonna fight again until I finish somebody.’ In a spectacular way like the UFC wants to.
“Forget about the title now, they want a spectacular way. Give me Rovyval, I will finish him.”
To relieve Muhammad Mokaev’s last fight against Alex Perez, please subscribe to UFC Fight Pass and watch UFC Fight Night®: Rozenstruik vs. Gaziev.
