Muhammad Mokaev thinks there are plenty of U.K. fighters for fans to look up to. He just doesn’t think Paddy Pimblett is one of them.
UFC London saw Mokaev — a proud representative of England who originally hails from Dagestan — remain undefeated with a decision win over Charles Johnson and he shared that glory with other English fighters like Pimblett, Molly McCann, Marc Diakiese, Nathaniel Wood, and Jai Herbert.
Pimblett shined as the brightest star on Saturday’s card, a narrative that Mokaev isn’t pleased with as he’s not fond of how “The Baddy” carries himself publicly.
“There’s so many guys that don’t get a lot of media attention that should get it,” Mokaev said. “Example, Arnold Allen. It’s Leon Edwards. It’s Tom Aspinall. Nathaniel Wood. These guys are amazing, good examples. I don’t disrespect the media, but you give a bulls*** guy like Paddy Pimblett attention.
“These guys never reach the top 15. Like, realistically, [if you understand MMA] he’ll never reach it. I don’t think he’s a great role model for young guys. Please follow Tom Aspinall, Arnold Allen, Leon Edwards, real men inside the cage and outside the cage. I’m proud to be on the same card as a man like Tom Aspinall.”
Pimblett defeated Jordan Leavitt via a thrilling second-round submission on the UFC London main card, but he made fight week headlines well before he stepped into the cage. At Friday’s official weigh-ins, Pimblett mooned the cameras to send a message to people critical of how he handles his diet between fights.
It’s those kinds of antics that have irritated Mokaev.
“This guy pulls his pants down,” Mokaev said. “A man doesn’t do this. Women don’t do this stuff. Pulls his pants down, get fat, drink beer, like animal. Men in Liverpool, I know real Scouse people, they don’t do stuff like this. This guy is just too much. I’m not a hater, I just want to see a newer generation follow real men. If you talk about UK guys, there’s Tom Aspinall. There’s Arnold Allen. Leon Edwards. Men of the world, of what they’re doing, they will back you up.
“Not this guy, walk behind security when he sees a camera then he’s like a real guy, but when there’s no camera he’s hiding. I see this. I know this energy. I’m not some kid like, ‘Everybody push me to the cage, go fight please.’ I grew up crazy too.”
As if to drive the point home, Mokaev addressed his own behavior on social media (specifically an image of himself brandishing an AK-47 rifle) and apologized to Johnson for a brief scuffle that Mokaev initiated at Friday’s ceremonial weigh-ins.
“I think [social media does play a big part in MMA],” Mokaev said. “My fight was a bit quiet, so I posted a picture with an AK-47 when I was in Dagestan. I was sitting in my friend’s car and there was an AK-47, I said let me take a picture. So I took a picture, I posted it, I’m against all this stuff, I’m not a bad boy. I’m just a normal guy from Wigan, I grew up there, but from Dagestan. Just normal, I don’t want to threaten anyone.
“I told Charles after my fight, I want to apologize about putting a finger up [in Johnson’s face] at the weigh-ins. This is not my personality. I got a little bit emotional because I had a crazy week with this bulls*** politician in Russia. [The politician] tried to call me a traitor for lifting the U.K. flag. A little bit of this week my head was off the fight.”
Watch Mokaev’s UFC London media scrum, courtesy of Cageside Press.
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