Remember Dana White‘s comments from a year ago when he announced the UFC and Francis Ngannou were parting ways? If you thought that was cold, then you should have seen how he dropped Muhammad Mokaev after UFC 304. “I think the PFL is gonna get a great undefeated guy. Good luck to him,” was his response when the press asked about Mokaev renewing with the UFC. The UFC dropping a 23-year-old undefeated talent is surprising, but it seems like Conor McGregor, now a promoter with his ownership in the BKFC, agrees with the decision.

At UFC 304 Muhammad Mokaev edged past Manel Kape in a flyweight bout that did not live up to the expectations set by the buildup. What followed later was an intense post-fight press conference where Dana White revealed that the Dagestani fighter would not be a part of the promotion anymore. In fact, they wasted no time in getting him removed from the official rankings.

Under an Instagram post from ‘The Mac Life’ about White’s comments, Conor McGregor wrote, “They can have him” along with a goat emoji (referring to himself) in a separate comment. Now, we will get to the McGregor-Mokaev part of things in a while, but before that let us take a look at what went down in Manchester.

Mokaev had revealed to the media that the UFC had given him an ultimatum about his wrestling-heavy style and they weren’t  He said, “They said they’re gonna see how I perform, they don’t want me to keep shooting and taking people down… I tried to put striking together first time in my career. I was standing in my 3 rounds with the best flyweight striker.”

However, in the post-fight press conference, the UFC CEO said there was more to the situation than Mokaev’s fighting style, “I am sure one of the match makers probably said something to him or whatever. But ya the match makers aren’t a big fan of his for many different reasons and not just because [of his fighting style] there’s a lot of people who shoot takedowns in this in this business. There are a lot of guys that fight with that type of style, but it’s a lot more than just that.”

But what could be the reason behind this decision? If Mokaev had won, he would likely have got a title shot next. The flyweight division is not that deep and Mokaev was on a 7-0 run, having all the makings of a star. However, there might be unnamed issues in the past few months that may have forced Dana White’s hand.

One incident that comes to mind is Mokaev’s brawl with opponent Manel Kape in a hotel lobby, just days before UFC 304.  The incident sparked debate with the entourage of both fighters getting involved in exchanging blows. Renowned coach Eric Nicksick, who witnessed the incident, had warned of potential career-altering consequences and he may have been proven right.

After the announcement by Dana White that Mokaev is “not under contract anymore,” the 23-old fighter took to social media to thank the fans for their support. In a post on X, he wrote, “Thank you to all my true fans that supported me from the beginning! I see you all.” 

Underneath his post, fans expressed their support for him, with one user writing, “I’m shocked that Dana cut you.” Another fan expressed, “Great as always, I can’t believe the UFC are letting you go, you’re undefeated…plus it’s MMA…a fight should be able to fight how they want to.” One fan believed, White’s decision wasn’t correct and wrote, “Dana made a big mistake not re-signing you.”

This is not the first time Dana White has shown his ruthless side. Last year, when Francis Ngannou decided to leave UFC, White didn’t hold back. He accused Ngannou of not wanting fights against tougher opponents and said, “Francis just thinks that he’s in a position where he’s got some Conor McGregor, Floyd Mayweather fight on his hands which he does not.”

For now, Mokaev will have to look elsewhere to continue his career, given his success in UFC, he won’t be short of suitors. Still, the decision to let him go is a big surprise. But, how does McGregor factor in here?

Not many of you might remember this but there was some tension between the two stars a while back. To understand the full story, we need to peel the layers back a few years.

Conor McGregor and Muhammad Mokaev’s forgotten beef

Back in 2021, Muhammad Mokaev had just signed with the promotion, with many tagging him as the new Khabib Nurmagomedov. What was more interesting, was that he had the same manager as McGregor, Audie Attar of Paradigm Sports Management. During an interview with Ariel Helwani in November of 2021, Mokaev raised an issue with McGregor.

“To be honest, I really want to ask him why he talked bad about Dagestan. I really want to ask him why he talked about every person. I want to see face-to-face his energy, because my managers, everybody talks like he isn’t the same like he is in the media. So I just want to feel myself this energy,” he told Helwani.

The former IMMAF champion felt it was not right of McGregor to trash all of Dagestan over his displeasure with a few Dagestanis. However, this comment spread like wildfire, as it does with anything concerning the Irishman. Mokaev later had to clarify his intentions, stating, “I spoke to Audie last night. People made this like I want to tell him ‘Hey, come here, apologise’… I have respect for him but tweets sometimes he makes, I want to tell him, like ‘Did you mean about everybody in Dagestan or did you mean about like personal, somebody who you’re talking about?'”

Mokaev said that McGregor had contacted him to convey wishes when he signed with the UFC. So he had no animosity against the Irishman but wanted him to apologize for insulting Dagestan nonetheless. Fast forward to December 2022, Mokaev announced he was leaving Paradigm Sports.

A year and a half later, McGregor is supporting Mokaev’s UFC exit. The Irishman has a history of not taking kindly to stablemates leaving his management team. One of the reasons for his rivalry with Tony Ferguson was over the same. Do you think that played a factor here? Does the promoter in McGregor agree with White about Mokaev? Or is McGregor cross with him over the Dagestan comments?

Do you feel Mokaev deserves one more chance at the UFC? Let us know in the comments below.