"This is first time I punched outside the cage" - Muhammad Mokaev laments Manel Kape incident, apologizes to the UFC
UFC flyweight Muhammad Mokaev has weighed in on his altercation with Manel Kape ahead of UFC 304. The two fighters locked horns on July 27, but during fight week, they got into an alteraction and had to be separated.
In a recent post on X, Mokaev shed light on the topic and shared how a previous altercation with 'Starboy' resulted in the incident during UFC 304 fight week. Mokaev claimed that prior to his fight against Alex Perez earlier this year, Kape headbutted him during an interaction.
The 23-year-old admitted that he was in the wrong and apologized to the UFC for his actions. Mokaev ended the post by stating that he had learned something from the whole ordeal:
"This is the first time I punched outside the cage, it was more personal. he was the one who headbutted 5 days before Perez fight when I went to shake his hand in Vegas! I understand, this is wrong what happen at the hotel and I apologise to the UFC, but there's some nights I didn't sleep because someone treated me like that, I never been cheap shot on the streets. I will never let anyone bully me and I never bullied anyone, but whatever happened it happened, I don't wanna keep going about it but I will take big lesson from it."
Check out Muhammad Mokaev's post below:
What did Dana White say about Muhammad Mokaev?
After the bad blood, Muhammad Mokaev and Manel Kape finally had a showdown on July 27. The fight was an underwhelming affair that lacked action. In the end, 'The Punisher' took home the victory via unanimous decision.
Despite him getting the victory, UFC CEO Dana White did not seem impressed with Mokaev's performance. At the UFC 304 post-fight press conference, White said:
"The matchmakers aren't a big fan of [Mokaev], for many different reasons. Not just takedowns. There's a lot of people who shoot takedowns in this business, a lot of guys that fight with that type of style. But it's a lot more than that... I think the PFL is gonna get a great undefeated guy. Good luck to him."
Check out Dana White's comments below: