Wigan's Muhammad Mokaev cut from UFC - minutes after extending undefeated record in Manchester

The 23-year-old, who was born in Dagestan before arriving in Wigan as a refugee in 2021, maintained his undefeated record in Manchester thanks to a unanimous points victory over Manel Kape.

It was a particularly pleasing victory for Mokaev, given the amount of bad blood between the two in the lead-up.

The pair were involved in a brawl at a Manchester hotel following the media day on Wednesday, and had to be separated both at the weigh-in on Friday and even in the octagon prior to their bout.

Mokaev had been looking for a big performance, from the final match of his scheduled contract.

But even though he came out on top - in an encounter that was very slow to get going - it seemingly won't be enough to earn a new deal.

Speaking in the early hours of Sunday morning, at the post-event press conference, UFC chief Dana White wished him luck with rival promotion PFL (Professional Fighters League) - which could be his next destination.

White was first of all asked for his thoughts on the shenanigans pre-fight.

"There was so much bad stuff that went on behind the scenes with that thing...yeah, not good," he said. "So much dumb stuff had gone on, we couldn't even have a face-off the day before.

"But it was one of those typical kinds of fights, which we've all seen over the years.

"Guys are saying 'I can't wait to get to you, I'm going to kill you'...and then they don't do anything for the first five minutes of the fight.

"We kind of figured how that fight was going to go...historically that's how they go."

Mokaev had earlier suggested in his own press conference that senior figures at UFC had been critical of his style, and that if he 'stopped shooting for takedowns', he'd have a better chance of being kept on.

Which only provoked a sarcastic response from White.

"Yeah, that's what we tell guys, we tell them how to fight...we've been doing this for a very long time..." he said.

"Look, I'm sure one of the matchmakers probably said something to him or whatever, but the matchmakers are not paid fans of his...for many different reasons.

"There's a lot of guys who shoot takedowns in the business, a lot of guys who fight with that style, but it's a lot more than just that."

When asked about the contract status, White replied: "Yeah, he's not under contract any more...I think the PFL (Professional Fighters League) is going to get a great undefeated guy. Good luck to him."

And when pushed whether it was Mokaev's style or finances that was behind the decision, White added: "None of the above. Look, the stuff that's played out here over the last few months, other stories that are just breaking out, there's many things. These guys just don't want to re-sign him."