Athletes
Muhammad Mokaev Wants To Prove He Is The Real Deal
"The Punisher" Has Eyes On The Very Top Heading Into Third UFC Bout At UFC 280
Often when a young fighter brings up breaking Jon Jones’ record of winning the UFC title at the ripe age of 23, it’s seen as cliché ambition. Given how deep most divisions are well beyond the top-15, let alone those competing for the title, rushing to the toughest fights without the highest levels of experience can expose a growing athlete to some savages before they’re necessarily ready. That said, few, if any, fighters under 23 had the kind of amateur experience Muhammad Mokaev had coming into the promotion, which included nearly two dozen fights, mostly under the IMMAF banner.
Once he turned pro and made his way to the UFC, he wasted even less time and racked up his first win and finish over Cody Durden at UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs Aspinall. He returned four months later to earn a decision win against Charles Johnson in UFC’s second 2022 stop in London, and now Mokaev is set for his third fight in just more than six months at UFC 280: Oliveira vs Makhachev. If you ask him, he sees little to no reason why he should sit back and take his time. He has that lofty goal in his mind, and the only path to achieving that is to fight as often as possible.
Order UFC 280: Oliveira vs Makhachev
“Why I should stay and relax? I'm still young,” Mokaev told UFC.com. “I have a dream to become the youngest to be champion. Why shouldn't I fight? If they put me on the card, I'm here.”
Muhammad Mokaev's Quick Round 1 Submission | UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs Aspinall
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Muhammad Mokaev's Quick Round 1 Submission | UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs Aspinall
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After taking Johnson to a decision, Mokaev had the entire flyweight top-15 on the tip of his tongue, but finding a fight proved difficult – a reality he found rather annoying.
“I need to be the youngest UFC champion,” he said. “I need to fight top 15 guys, and I believe in top 15 guys, (there are) a lot of easy fights for me. I already called out big names. And when I call out somebody, it doesn't mean it’s for show. (UFC matchmaker) Mick Maynard, he knows I am ready to sign a new contract against any opponent. He knows this. So it's not like I call out just for the hype.”
UFC 280 COUNTDOWN: Full Episode | Oliveira vs Makhachev | Sterling vs Dillashaw | Yan vs O'Malley
Mokaev was a little self-critical when it came to his sophomore outing. He criticized Johnson for fighting “to survive” rather than to win, but he relished the opportunity to get a good three rounds of work under his belt.
Throughout the fight, he showed off a quality gas tank as he undertook the exhaustive task of taking Johnson down over and over again. That willingness to enjoy an uglier fight and not just expect to steamroll opponents bodes well for the 22-year-old, and it was yet another display of the great composure he shows for his age.
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“All fights are the same,” Mokaev said. “It's just the cage is bigger. I can move around more, and there is more publicity, but I was growing my career slowly, so it's not that I jumped into biggest organization in the world. I had 23 fights as an amateur and was slowly building. It’s not that I just caught all the hype. It was building.”
In terms of his opponent on October 22, Mokaev views Malcolm Gordon as another body in the way. He doesn’t see anything particularly special about the Canadian, who is 2-2 since joining the roster in July 2020.
Mokaev fully expects to dictate the pace of the fight, one in which he also anticipates a great reception in Abu Dhabi. Despite his youth, Mokaev believes he can no longer catch opponents by surprise. They fully know he is coming, and UFC 280 could turn out to be another step on his path to a record-breaking title run.
“I already showed that age doesn't matter,” Mokaev said. “It depends how much fire in your heart you have, and it was hard to find an opponent. It shows that they know I'm the real deal.”
UFC 280: Oliveira vs Makhachev took place live from Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on October 22, 2022. See the Final Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
