Muhammad Mokaev Says UFC Threatens to Cut Fighters Who Rely on Wrestling
The undefeated flyweight says UFC bosses privately warn wrestlers their style could cost them their roster spots.
Muhammad Mokaev is calling out the UFC for what he says is an unspoken war on wrestling.
The undefeated flyweight took to social media on Oct. 20 with a pointed message aimed at the promotion he used to fight for. Mokaev claims that UFC brass have been privately warning fighters that a wrestling-heavy style could cost them their roster spots.
"When fighters are getting phone calls from bosses telling them, 'If you keep wrestling like that, you're going to get cut,'" Mokaev wrote on X, per Sherdog. "At what point does that cross the line?"
Mokaev's comments came in the wake of Farid Basharat's exit from the UFC. Basharat went 7-0 inside the octagon and finished his contract with a spotless record of 16-0, but the promotion chose not to re-sign him, per Sherdog. UFC CEO Dana White has suggested that matchmaker difficulties or declined fights could explain such departures, though he did not name Basharat specifically.
Mokaev pushed back on that framing. He argued that the UFC has every right to release fighters but should not damage their reputations on the way out. The "hard to deal with" label, Mokaev said, can follow a fighter and make it difficult to land opportunities elsewhere.
"Just don't try to damage their careers on the way out," Mokaev wrote.
Mokaev knows firsthand how this plays out. He left the UFC with a record of 17-0 and one no contest after the promotion declined to renew his contract following his July 2024 win over Manel Kape. He has since won four fights outside the organization.
The accusations add to a growing conversation about whether the UFC's preference for fan-friendly action unfairly penalizes fighters who win by controlling opponents on the ground.
Mokaev is not wrong, and everyone in MMA knows it. The UFC has a type: stand-and-bang fighters who put on show-stopping performances. Wrestlers who grind out wins do not sell pay-per-views, and the promotion has never been shy about letting them go, even when they are winning.
Basharat going 7-0 in the UFC and not getting re-signed tells you everything you need to know. So does Mokaev's own exit. The man was undefeated and still got shown the door. At some point you have to ask whether this is matchmaking or a philosophy problem.
I get the business side. Exciting fights sell. But MMA is mixed martial arts. Wrestling is part of the sport. When fighters start changing their game plans because they are scared of getting cut, that is not good for competition. You end up with guys abandoning their best skills to put on a show, and some of them get knocked out because of it.
The UFC can sign and release whoever it wants. That is the business. But Mokaev is right about one thing: do not trash a fighter's name on the way out.
