Pantoja has run through the division and they desperately need new worthy opponents for him. Mokhaev was definitely next in line and one of the only fighters that has a decent chance against Pantoja right now. I hate him but Mokhaev is future champion if he can stay healthy and get his shit together.
Been a fan since that.
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Muhammad Mokaev’s Karate Combat opponent has been announced as the banished former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Flyweight contender continues to hope a growing resume will get him back to the big leagues.
“The Punisher” will face 8-3 Kazakh fighter, Bolat Zamanbekov, when Karate Combat heads to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on May 2, 2025. Zamanbekov is 4-2 over the last two years with the two losses coming from ONE: “Friday Night Fights”-related appearances.
Mokaev is still perfect (13-0) in mixed martial arts (MMA), but found himself exiled from UFC after a series of boring fights and poor behavior behind the scenes made him persona non grata amongst the company’s matchmakers.
The Dagestani wrestler insists the whole thing was a big misunderstanding and even offered to fight in UFC for free if they’d give him a second chance (details here).
UFC hasn’t been receptive to any of this, but perhaps a win or two with his fists will change their minds? Muhammad is clearly working on rounding his skillset, as a recent image at American Top Team with Alexandre Pantoja and Kyoji Horiguchi showed.
A finish in Karate Combat is the perfect place to prove that.
Based on his social media postings, Mokaev is even working on his spinning s—t! At just 24 years of age, Muhammad has a lot of time to become the best he can be. He’ll definitely need an upgrade or two before UFC considers bringing him back. The Manel Kape fight (and the outside the cage behavior surrounding it) stunk so bad it will take a lot to erase that memory.