Current number 12th ranked flyweight contender Muhammad Mokaev was recently in the limelight for calling out the number 4th contender Brandon Rovyal. Mokaev who was last seen inside the octagon at UFC 286 where he fought and defeated Jafel Filho in the third round via submission.
Rovyal on the other hand is on an incredible winning streak himself as he recently won the performance bonus following his incredible first-round knee KO at UFC Fight Night at Kansas City.
I wanna fight Brendan Royval (ranked number 3) in Abu Dhabi!
I feel like you won’t accept but I can offer my fight purse $38,000 to you if you accept this fight! Let’s go! @brandonroyval pic.twitter.com/YfRsmMh9yo— Muhammad Mokaev (@muhammadmokaev) April 20, 2023
Rovyal was quick to respond to the weird call-out as he clearly dismissed any possibility of him fighting such low rank opponent in Mokaev. He said,
“I’m fighting for gold and 6 figures next.. not for 38k. Maybe once you stop struggling with unranked opponents, you can add this to your wish list, considering all that lay and praying you do every fight. No quit acting like you don’t see Hadley’s tweets”. As Mokaev did his best to lure Rovyal into agreeing to fight him, both flyweights continued their rant on Twitter.
I fought with a shoulder injury, I don’t make excuses 😂 weeks notice doesn’t mean anything to me mate
Anyway already making excuses , offer is there but you will beg to fight me very soon remember that!
— Muhammad Mokaev (@muhammadmokaev) April 20, 2023
What’s next for Muhammad Mokaev?
Although Mokaev emerged victorious in his last outing, the fight did cause him some serious damage. As, just when Mokaev was about to defeat Jafel Filho, he got trapped in a kneebar that threatened to stop the contest. The ‘Punisher’ survived despite wincing in pain and having his knee bent backward.
And with only a few seconds left in the contest, Mokaev quickly applied a rear-naked choke to the “Pastor,” causing him to submit. Mokaev did get the win, but the kneebar caused him some serious damage as he was seen heavily limping out of the arena.
Just a couple weeks ago, Mokaev provided an update on the injury,“6-8 weeks I will be back training,” tweeted Mokaev. “Thank you for all your messages, I received crazy amount of the support about my knee! It’s strap season for me and my people! I will be champion one day InshaAllah.”
Even though Mokaev has shown incredible promise in the four fight he has had in the UFC, an opponent like Rovyal may be too big step or him. Specially after suffering such a bad knee injury.
The 21-year-old has expressed his desires become champion one day, hence it would be better if he first tests his skills against someone in the top-10, gradually moving up in competition to capture that UFC flyweight gold.
