"Will see him sooner than he actually thinks" - Muhammad Mokaev likes "nice and respectful kid" Kai Kara-France's response to his call out, eager to face him inside the octagon

Muhammad Mokaev (L) and Kai Kara-France (R) [ Image credits: @mokaev_muhammad @kaikarafrance /Instagram ]

Muhammad Mokaev and Kai Kara-France are on a collision course that may meet sooner rather than later.

Kai Kara-France is set to rematch Brandon Moreno in the UFC 277 co-headliner where he will vie for the interim flyweight world title in what is the biggest bout of his career thus far.

Speaking with Nik Hobbs ahead of this weekend's pay-per-view, Kara-France was asked if Muhammad Mokaev's UFC run is catching his eye.

After seeing the clip circulating around of Kara-France talking about him on Twitter, the Dagestan-born fighter said:

"Nice and respectful kid but will see him sooner than he actually thinks. Good luck this weekend @kaikarafrance"

See the tweet below:

Nice and respectful kid but will see him sooner than he actually thinks 🥇
Good luck this weekend @kaikarafrance twitter.com/nikhobbs/statu…

In the video that was quote-tweeted above, Kara-France said:

"[Mokaev] called me out on Twitter asking for a fight. Didn't really take notice, because I'm about to fight for the title. I'm here to fight the best. He's doing well. He's a great prospect in this flyweight division... He was an amateur world champion and undefeated. So, if he keeps that going and breaks through to that top ten, yeah, he's definitely going to be a contender."

Muhammad Mokaev's body of work

Mokaev's professional resume as a mixed martial artist has him presently situated at seven wins, zero defeats, and one no contest. Adding his amateur run to this record, Muhammad Mokaev is riding a remarkable winning streak of 31 straight fights.

The former Brave CF veteran made his promotional debut with the UFC earlier this calendar year.

Mokaev debuted as an amateur mixed martial artist in November 2015 and transitioned to the professional ranks in August 2020.

'The Punisher' won his pair of octagon outings in impressive fashion. His first fight in the company saw him earn a sub-one minute guillotine choke victory over Cody Durden at UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs Aspinall in March. After his UFC London debut victory, Mokaev's sophomore effort also took place at a UFC London card. In that bout, he defeated Charles Johnson via unanimous decision on July 23.

Despite just starting his journey with the UFC, Mokaev is working his way into the history books.

Most takedowns in @ufc flyweight history!
Back in March 2nd fastest finish in @ufc flyweight history!
Slowly writing history… https://t.co/sEBysYwnB2

'The Punisher' turns 22 tomorrow and will presumably spend his night focusing on the interim-title bout between Moreno and Kara-France.