Muhammad Mokaev explains why he attacked "bully" Manel Kape at fighter hotel ahead of UFC 304

As Muhammad Mokaev sees it, he did nothing wrong by attacking Manel Kape at the fighter hotel.

The bad blood between the pair was apparent ahead of their scheduled bout at UFC 304 and they came to blows multiple times during fight week. One of the most notable instances was when 'The Punisher' sucker punched Kape after inviting him to take a picture at the fighter hotel.

The duo also got into a scuffle during their weigh-ins. However, it looks like there is a specific reason for Mokaev to harbor such animosity toward his opponent.

During the post-fight press conference after his win against Kape, the 23-year-old claimed that him attacking 'Starboy' at the fighter hotel was payback for a transgression from the past:

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"You know this was important to me. Five days before my Alex Perez fight, I met with Manel [Kape]. He head-butted me. If you watch my Alex Perez fight, I went to fight with [a] cut, with eight stitches. They stitched up my eyebrow. When I went to fight with Alex Perez... I was shooting to [not risk] opening my cut... In [an] interview, he said once he comes to Manchester he [was] going to do it a second time. So, I couldn't come close to him in the hotel. So I told him, 'let's come take [a] picture,' and once he came over, I dropped him. I had to do it... I come from a rough background, my life was tough, I give no sh*t to anyone to bully me."

Catch Muhammad Mokaev's comments below:

At UFC 304, Mokaev claimed a dominant unanimous decision win to extend his undefeated record to 13-0-1NC. The Russian-born Englishman holds seven wins in the UFC and will most likely face a top-five flyweight in his next octagon outing.

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