“Stitch Duran was never my friend!”, this legendary quote from Dana White reflects the consequences for those who find themselves on his wrong side. Many fighters in the UFC have faced the wrath of the UFC head honcho in the past. The latest addition to this list is 24-year-old Muhammad Mokaev who is no longer a part of the promotion. Despite being unbeaten (13-0-1) in his career, the English-Dagestani fighter had multiple problems that led to his exclusion.

Despite multiple attempts to return to the MMA juggernaut, the flyweight prospect has yet to get any response and he is now fighting under the banner of Brave FC. For the unversed, this is where he began his professional MMA career and is currently also the highest-paid flyweight. But will he ever get the opportunity to return to the UFC? It seems he will.

Fans might get to see Muhammad Mokaev under the banner of UFC again

Dana White has worked extremely hard to take the UFC where it is now. One of the non-negotiable things for him has always been the way his fighters behave. This is where Muhammad Mokaev has caused a lot of problems for both him and the promotion. One of his infamous misconduct was the ‘sucker punch’ incident which led to the brawl with Manel Kape a day before their scheduled bout at UFC 304. Also, there have been a lot of problems surrounding his alleged boring fighting style which forced White to take the hard call.

Dana White has made it clear that Mokeav’s return is not on the cards as of yet. During a recent DWCS press conference, the 55-year-old said,  “It is what it is… This is an opportunity to be here and perform in front of the entire world. He’s just a guy that did everything wrong and p*ssed these guys off.” However, a recent Instagram post by the Home of Fight hints at something else. It seems ‘The Punisher’ might return to the Octagon soon.

The caption on the Instagram post read “Hunter Campbell told Muhammad Mokaev he will make his return to the UFC after competing in 1-2 fights outside of the organization and will be welcomed back afterwards. ” Mokaev during a recent conversation with Vestnik MMA on YouTube echoed the same sentiments that he would be waiting for the opportunity. However, the 24-year-old took time to comment on the post and wrote, “125 🥇🎯” 

Well whether or not Muhammad Mokaev returns to the UFC will be answered in the time to come. However, the biggest question is what was the exact reason for him to be shown the doors from the UFC. UFC CEO Dana White has faced a lot of criticism from the fans for the way he has treated the unbeaten fighter. But the UFC head honcho during the UFC 308 post-fight press conference made it clear that he has no beef with the 24-year-old.

Dana White opens up on his relationship with Muhammad Mokaev

It is believed that the top brass in the UFC is always in search of ‘highlight reel’ performers who can put up a show for the fans in the form of scraps and striking fests. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case with Mohammad Mokaev. His wrestling and ground-heavy game helped him stay unbeaten in the UFC but also termed his bouts as ‘snooze fests’. Was this one of the reasons for him to be shown the doors from the UFC? It seems Dana White seemed pretty chill with the entire situation and had no say in the decision.

During the UFC 308 post-fight press conference he said, “So, first of all, he was not released he just was not re-signed. His contract expired and there were a lot of issues with him behind the scenes. And not some behind-the-scenes. The matchmakers were done with him, they were tired of him they did not want to deal with him anymore so they didn’t re-sign him.” 

He further made it clear that he doesn’t have any special dislike for the 24-year-old and said “I have no problem with him and I have never had a beef with him and I don’t deal with him daily.” Do you think Muhammad Mokaev will make a return to the UFC again? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.