Muhammad Mokaev is not a fan of Paddy Pimblett, and if the UFC is ever open to making a fight between them at featherweight, he wouldn’t hesitate for a second.
Mokaev remained undefeated in his pro career with a dominant unanimous decision win over Charles Johnson at UFC London this past Saturday. The performance preceded Pimblett’s submission win over Jordan Leavitt in the event’s featured bout. Following his win, Mokaev slammed Pimblett unprompted at his post-fight interview and questioned fans and media for giving the British star attention.
Should a fight between the two happen, Mokaev is quite confident he would dominate despite the size disadvantage he’d face.
“I saw him at breakfast after the fight,” Mokaev explained on The MMA Hour. “The guy’s eyes, they don’t have the same energy like when he talks in a microphone. He doesn’t have the same energy. I would fight him at 145. If the UFC makes this fight, I will fight him at 145. I won’t cut any weight. People [might not] believe me, but I’ll do whatever I’d want to him.
“I walk around at 155. I went to the fight, to my [flyweight fight] as a 145-pounder. If [Jordan Leavitt] took him down this weekend, he’d lose 10-8 [to me], I don’t know what I’d do to him.”
While a fight with Pimblett is at best unlikely, Mokaev also would welcome flyweight matchups with Brandon Royval, Tim Elliott, and Jeff Molina as he looks to ascend the 125-pound divisional rankings.
When asked why he chose to take the opportunity to express his displeasure for Pimblett in his post-fight scrum, Mokaev said he had receipts for past things Pimblett had said about him, and other fighters.
“I don’t like this guy,” Mokaev said. “I don’t want to talk about him too much, because in 2019 he said on Twitter [about me] that, ‘This guy shouldn’t represent England, because he wasn’t born here. He shouldn’t lift the British flag, he was not born here.’
“He talked bad about Georgian people, he talked bad about immigrants and not being welcoming in the U.K., and stuff like this. And people support this bulls*** guy? This is wrong.”
“My coach, my team, nobody likes this guy, because he [says] too much about nationality, race and all these things – that’s low mentality,” Mokaev continued. “It’s low mentality when that’s all you have to say about somebody.”
