Muhammad Mokaev lands massive head kick to defy Dana White’s UFC chop and become Brave champion

On Friday night, Muhammad Mokaev finally got the chance to compete for flyweight gold, albeit outside of the UFC.

Mokaev was booked to compete for the inaugural Brave flyweight title at the promotion’s 100th event on November 7. After going 7-0 inside the Octagon, the undefeated competitor has produced back-to-back wins since Dana White sensationally dropped him from the promotion last year.

Beating Gerard Burns to win the gold would have seemingly been another step towards Mokaev making his return to the UFC as one of the best fighters in his division. In Bahrain, ‘The Punisher’ looked to get his hand raised against yet another opponent who was confident of taking his undefeated crown.

Muhammad Mokaev vs Gerard Burns RESULT: Brave 100

With the UFC flyweight division bereft of serious contenders for the seemingly unbeatable Alexandre Pantoja, it seemed outlandish that young challenger Muhammad Mokaev was cut last year. He had just defeated Manel Kape, but it came with a particularly ugly build-up.

Dana White and the UFC’s matchmakers decided to cut him loose on fight night, and he has taken to free agency like a duck to water. He won his Brave debut back in December before trying out Karate Combat, where he landed another quickfire win. He followed it up with a dominant win over Thomas Assis in June.