Muhammad Mokaev was given an unexpected chance to compete under the UFC banner again, but the former flyweight contender had a different kind of return in mind.<\/p>\n
Muhammad Mokaev\u00a0<\/a>has remained focused on getting back to the UFC <\/a>since leaving the promotion in 2024. That made a recent offer particularly interesting, although it did not involve an MMA fight. In an interview with BBC Sport\u2019s Keifer MacDonald, Mokaev said the UFC approached him about facing Mikey Musumeci <\/a>for a UFC BJJ title. He was willing to accept the matchup, but only if it came with something more.<\/p>\n Muhammad Mokaev Wanted More Than a BJJ Fight<\/p>\n According to Mokaev, the UFC offered him $10,000 to compete against\u00a0Mikey Musumeci in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. The money was not enough to convince him on its own. He wanted the grappling bout to be tied to a return to the UFC\u2019s MMA roster. That didn’t happen.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThey said, \u2018No, this is different. BJJ is different. This is different. We have other plans.\u2019 I told them where to go.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Mokaev made it clear that his problem was not with Musumeci. The five-time world champion would have given him another high-level test, but the fight did not bring him any closer to the UFC flyweight division. He said he has continued speaking with UFC matchmakers while trying to find a way back. He also believes a promise made by Hunter Campbell hasn’t been fulfilled.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHunter made me a promise. They basically wasted two years of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n “That’s how I feel right now. I don’t think what they are doing is right.”<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Since his UFC departure, Mokaev has continued competing and has added titles outside the promotion while waiting for another opportunity.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Muhammad Mokaev Has a PFL Option in Mind<\/p>\n The UFC is not the only promotion on Mokaev\u2019s radar. He told MacDonald that the PFL has offered him a multi-fight contract, although the organization does not currently have a men\u2019s flyweight division. That could change if the PFL introduces a 125-pound weight class following its merger with Jake Paul\u2019s Most Valuable Promotions.<\/p>\n For now, Mokaev appears more interested in staying active than settling for a short-term opportunity that does not move his MMA career forward.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI want to stay active because I\u2019m still young.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The UFC BJJ offer may have put Mokaev back under the promotion\u2019s roof, but it wasn’t the return he wanted. His priority remains finding a route back to the UFC flyweight division.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Muhammad Mokaev was given an unexpected chance to compete under the UFC banner again, but the former flyweight…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":899549,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[444],"tags":[49,48,641,638,189792,1863,82,640],"class_list":["post-899548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-fighting","tag-mma","tag-muhammad-mokaev","tag-pfl","tag-sports","tag-ufc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/899548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=899548"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/899548\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/899549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=899548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=899548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=899548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}