Muhammad Mokaev Believes UFC’s Entertainment-First Approach Could Open the Door for PFL

Muhammad Mokaev says the UFC has drifted from what it used to preach. Dana White once talked about the best fighting the best, he said, but today it's all about entertainment. From a business angle, Mokaev admits the UFC is right. From a sport angle, he thinks they're wrong.

Muhammad Mokaev Fires a Warning at the UFC While Predicting PFL’s Rise

He argued the promotion could at least have waited until one of its top fighters took away his undefeated record. Instead, it let go of a man who beat its number one contender, and he wasn't even in his prime. Mokaev also said fans will now see how PFL takes over day by day.

He backed the post with a picture of the fighters who got cut despite solid performances: Farid Basharat, Michael Page, Mokaev himself, Daniel Marcos, Javid Basharat, Jailton Almeida and Rinat Fakhretdinov. The reasons behind the cuts came down to fights that weren't seen as entertaining enough, and in a few cases, issues outside the cage.

Mokaev stated, “Dana used to say best vs the best But today it is all about entertainment. From the business side they're right but from the sport perspective they're wrong. At least they could of wait until "their best fighters" took away our undefeated record. To not let go a guy who beat their number 1 contender not even in the prime Now we will see how @pflmma gonna take over day by day.”

It’s not the first time someone has accused the biggest MMA promotion of treating fighters unfairly. Fans have repeatedly called out the UFC over this issue, while some believe that it is part of what makes the promotion so good at selling fights. However, MMA legend Demetrious Johnson has also spoken out about the issue.

Demetrious Johnson Exposes UFC’s Double Standards

DJ said that whenever White talks about keeping the best athletes on the planet, there's a flip side: some of those fighters get written off as not exciting. Since the UFC makes the matches and decides who stays, Johnson noted, it gets to choose whatever direction it wants to go.

In his words, “When I hear Dana say, 'We want to keep the best athletes on the planet,' then there's another side to it. 'They're not exciting'... You get to f*cking make the matches. They get to pick and choose what they want to do, which goes back to that one thing I said. It's not a sport, it's entertainment. Which is fine. Just say it's entertainment.”

For those who don't know, Johnson has been through this himself. Despite being a legend of the sport, he was traded to ONE Championship in exchange for Ben Askren.