UFC London: Mokaev wins debut in under a minute

Benny A. King

Muhammad Mokaev couldn’t have picked a better outcome for his UFC debut. For the first fight of the prelims, Mokaev faced Cody Durden in a flyweight bout. The 21-year-old fighter had several feuds during the build up for their fight. His opponent, Durden isn’t the only one he has had a beef with.

Mokaev took to his Twitter account to defend UFC fighter pay prior to his debut.

“UFC doesn’t get enough credit [for] what they are doing behind the scenes, [the] amount of staff are working and helping fighters with everything. Don’t just look at the wages of a fighter, look how much they’re investing behind the scenes! Thank you @ufc and all staff!” Mokaev wrote.

Mokaev landed a good knee to the chin of Durden early.  Mokaev used this opportunity to  lock in a guillotine choke. Durden then slammed Mokaev but failed to get out of the choke in spite of the

During the post-fight interview, Mokaev stated that he was proud of his country and that he came to England as a refugee.

Mokaev also talked about a message he had sent to Dana White 4 years ago.

That comment came as a jab towards Durden. In the past, Mokaev slammed Durden for a comment he made after winning a fight against a Chinese fighter.

After winning a fight against Qileng Aori in UFC Fight night 198, Durden stated that he was happy to send his opponent “back to where he came from”.

That statement didn’t sit well with Muhammad Mokaev, on Twitter he labeled Durden as racist and asked fans if he should “smash” him.

“I don’t like Cody Durden racist comment in his interview. Should I smash this guy for my UFC debut?” Mokaev asked his fans on Twitter.

Mokaev also thanked another controversial person in his post fight speech – Sheikh Khalid Al Khalifa.

Makaev’s career has been funded by the Sheikh. Al Khalifa is a member of the Bahraini royal family, the ruling family of the Kingdom of Bahrain.

According to MMA Journalist Karim Zidan, Mokaev has been training at the prince’s fight club since the beginning of his career. Meaning that Mokaev’s career has been funded by a questionable powerful figure.