Muhammad Mokaev reveals return timeline amid knee injury, claims top 10 flyweights not accepting the fight

Flyweight prospect Muhammad Mokaev battled through an injury and escaped a submission attempt on his knee to win against Jafel Filho at UFC 286 via neck crank.

However, Mokaev's hyperextended knee bore clear signs of injury even as he celebrated his victory. He later confirmed that he had suffered a partial MCL tear.

@ElTa01894013 Partial tear MCL , Grade 2

In the latest update from the English fan favorite, he stated that he was on track recovery-wise and provided a potential return date:

"Thank you for all you messages about my knee! Really I felt like I won I title with this kind of support l! Recovery going well alhamdulillah, I’m trying my best to fight in London if not then I’ll fight in august in states"

Mokaev also mentioned that his return was being hampered by a lack of willing opponents as he is being avoided by the top 10 contenders from the flyweight division.

He challenged the higher-ranked fighters to come and stop his 'hype train':

"Still nobody from top 10 accepting the fight even with me having one leg [smiling face with open mouth and cold sweat emoji] I understand they don’t wanna look down on ranking but I’m undefeated, if I’m that easy opponent why don’t you come and stop “hype Train” like these top 10 are saying [grinning face emoji] I’m here"

Check out Mokaev's tweets below:

Thank you for all you messages about my knee! Really I felt like I won I title with this kind of support l!
Recovery going well alhamdulillah, I’m trying my best to fight in London if not then I’ll fight in august in states

Still nobody from top 10 accepting the fight even with me having one leg 😅
I understand they don’t wanna look down on ranking but I’m undefeated, if I’m that easy opponent why don’t you come and stop “hype Train” like these top 10 are saying 😀I’m here

Mokaev also claimed to be the most active fighter in the featherweight division over the past year and challenged other contenders to do the same.

@themmafocus That’s why they should stay active if the want make money and name.
I had more fights in 1 years than anyone in top 15 last 12 months

Who will Muhammad Mokaev fight next?

Muhammad Mokaev's five-fight winning streak and unbeaten professional record across 11 fights were the closest to being broken in his last outing against Jafel Filho. But the flyweight showed extraordinary heart to survive the kneebar and emerge the victor.

Despite the gruesome injury, he continued to call out higher-ranked contenders. Mokaev targeted Matt Schnell in a now-deleted tweet and wrote:

"Matt Schnell, you said you don't want to fight in the UK, that's fine! I will come to the US to your backyard and fight you there, how about that? July/August, let's go!"

Check out a screenshot of his deleted tweet below:

Muhammad Mokaev has also suggested Manel Kape as a potential opponent for himself.

Mokaev vs Kape 🤔
Don’t anyone else from in the rankings who would take this fight apart from this man!

He stated that he had respect for Kape's striking but does not believe the Angolan can match his ground game.

My man deleted his tweet cuz his manager prolly said that tweet is almost a bout agreement. In my opinion mokaev submits kape within 2 rounds easily. https://t.co/hfmYwFT5yw