Muhammad Mokaev came into the UFC with a lot of hype. 22-0 as an amateur and 5-0 as a pro, everyone was waiting for fight news regarding the prospect. We soon got it when it was announced he would fight the American Cody Durden at UFC London in March.
The Beef
The animosity between the two all began after Cody Durden defeated Aori Qileng. After beating the “Mongolian Murder” via unanimous decision. Cody made some questionable comments regarding the Chinese fighter. Saying “Send him back to China, where he’s from”. Muhammad took offence to this and immediately called for a fight with Durden.
Mokaev was born in Dagestan, but when he was a teenager he moved to Wigan and made it his home. Now a British citizen who represents the UK, Muhammad likely knows what it’s like to face prejudice and unsavoury comments. Sticking up for what he believes in, Mokaev went in on Durden both in interviews and over social media.
The Fight
The build-up to their fight was a tense one, with the atmosphere and hatred obvious to all. However, once that cage door closed Muhammad went to work and put on a performance of a lifetime. He defeated his foe in quick time, making Durden eat his words. After landing a flying knee that dropped Cody, Muhammad followed him to the ground and got the choke just 58 seconds into round 1.
After all the build-up it seemed the feud might boil over and the fight might not have been the last of it. That wasn’t the case as Cody took to Twitter to congratulate his opponent and took the loss well.
The Squash
Now two months out from the fight it seems the beef has been fully settled. After Muhammad Mokaev took to Twitter to post this:
Now that the dust settled the two former enemies look to have drawn a line in the sand and reconciled. Both training at American Top Team can only mean good things for their respective futures.
With Muhammad set to fight Charles Johnson in London on July 23rd, he looks to be getting all the best training he can.
How high is the 21-year olds ceiling?
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Featured image credits to @MuhammadMokaev on Twitter
