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Mokaev admits he planned an attack on Kape in Manchester after the two came to blows in Las Vegas months before.

Despite winning his UFC 304 fight against Manel Kape, Muhammad Mokaev has found himself without a job in the UFC.

Following the event, UFC CEO Dana White announced the promotion would not be re-signing Mokaev, who completed the last fight on his contract in Manchester. Mokaev had suggested it was his wrestling-heavy fighting style that the promotion wasn’t a fan of. White said that wasn’t the only reason.

“The matchmakers aren’t big fans of his for many different reasons,” White said. “There’s a lot of people who shoot takedowns in this business, a lot of guys that fight with that type of style. But it’s a lot more than just that.”

Perhaps it’s been all the drama that has surrounded Mokaev over his last two fights with Manel Kape. The two men got into an altercation at the UFC Apex that saw Kape headbutt Mokaev. Mokaev got his revenge in a Manchester fighter hotel brawl, and the two clashed again at the ceremonial weigh-ins and even in the cage before the opening bell. If those incidents weren’t the last straw for UFC, the stinker of a fight with Kape certainly was.

Mokaev for his part was unrepentant over the pre-fight fight, which he admitted to setting up during a UFC 304 post-fight interview.

“In an interview, [Kape] said if he comes to Manchester, he’s going to [attack me] a second time,” he said. “I couldn’t come close to him in the hotel, so I told him let’s come take a picture. And once he came, I dropped him.”

“I’m not other guys who, somebody can bully me. “I come from a rough background. My life was tough and I give no s— to anyone to bully me.”

There were signs that Mokaev was out of favor with the UFC coming into the British event. The bout schedule for the event was set with the flyweight contender competing on the main card. But as the event approached, his fight with Kape was moved onto the early prelims.

Now the man who hoped to become the youngest UFC champion in history finds himself outside the promotion with little chance of returning any time soon.

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Even Paddy Pimblett didn’t expect his fight with King Green to go that smoothly.

On Saturday evening in Manchester, England, Pimblett had the best performance of his UFC career, putting Green to sleep with a triangle-armbar combination in the very first round of their featured lightweight fight at UFC 304. The beginning of the end came after Green unexpectedly shot for a takedown early in the fight, a move Pimblett didn’t see coming.

“Yeah, I was surprised he shot in at all,” Pimblett said at his post-fight press conference. “He’s had some brilliant stand-up fight with people. The Jim Miller fight, he stood with Jalen Turner, he stood three rounds with [Rafael] Fiziev and won the last round. People kept talking about that in the build-up to this. So yeah, I was surprised, but as I say, everyone underestimates me just because I look like a 14-year-old girl.”

On paper, Green appeared to be the toughest test of the young superstar’s career thus far. A well-respected veteran and ranked No. 15 in the UFC lightweight rankings, conventional wisdom heading into the fight was that Green had a decided advantage on the feet. But Pimblett says he showed that wasn’t true, because Green was the one who decided to initiate the grappling, which was a gift for Pimblett.

“It was great!” Pimblett said. “As I said all week, people thought I was going to come straight in and shoot in, and I told you all I didn’t need to. People underestimate me striking and don’t think I can strike. I had a striker shooting in on me. I kept him on the end of me range, kept him on the end of me jab, using me kicks and stuff. I never even got the chance to throw a head kick at him.

“I leg kicked him, he shot in, and I capitalized on it. Guillotine, switched to triangle, and I ended up taking the arm as well. I thought the ref was a little bit slow, to be honest. I think he was unconscious for a few seconds before I took the arm, because I jumped out the cage and went wild for about 30 seconds, and then by the time I got back in the cage he was still lying on the floor unconscious.”

The fight was the first time Green has been submitted in UFC, and it was a particularly tough one as not only was Green unconscious for some time, but Pimblett is also concerned he may have done some damage to Green’s arm.

“No bad blood at all,” Pimblett said. “In this game, I like to be respectful. It’s one of them where we’re fighting to put food on the table for our families, and the fact that his arm went, I felt it. I felt a little crunch and it was nasty. I just hope it isn’t too bad, because I know he likes to be active and he likes to fight as much as he can. So hopefully it’s not a bad injury and he can fight again soon. But it’s nothing but respect with Bobby. Hopefully when I get back to the hotel we get to see each other and have a little ale together or something.”

The victory over Green will now move Pimblett into the UFC’s top 15 at lightweight, putting “The Baddy” now firmly in the title hunt. After the fight, Pimblett called for a matchup with Renato Moicano, who is currently set to fight Benoit Saint Denis at UFC Paris on Sept. 28. But once that’s over, Pimblett maintains that’s the fight he’s most interested in next.

“He’s obviously ranked above me as well, but the fact that I think the build-up would be hilarious,” Pimblett said of Moicano. “I think a season of The Ultimate Fighter with me and him as coaches would absolutely be comedy gold.”

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Forever linked with a title unification fight with Tom Aspinall – Jon Jones only drew further links to a showdown with the heavyweight star next, sharing his reaction to the Brit’s huge knockout win over Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 overnight.

Aspinall, the current interim titleholder at the heavyweight limit, returned to action overnight in his native Manchester, landing a stunning opening round knockout win over Blaydes just a minute into the opening round of their rematch fight.

And expected to serve as a backup fighter to Jones’ return against former two-time heavyweight gold holder, Stipe Miocic later this year at UFC 309 – Aspinall boldly claimed the Rochester veteran was hoping for his demise overnight at the Co-op Live Arena.

“Jon’s (Jones) the undisputed champion, but I’m the best in the world, if that makes any sense,” Tom Aspinall told assembled media after UFC 304. “We know what Jon’s doing, Jon was there, crossing how fingers and toes tonight hoping I’d lose to Curtis (Blaydes).”

“Let’s not bullsh*t about it – he posted about it loads anyway that I’m going to lose to him,” Tom Aspinall explained. “That didn’t happen, so that’s the fight I want next.”

Jon Jones offers cryptic reaction to Tom Aspinall’s win at UFC 304

And sharing his reaction to the Atherton native’s win at UFC 304, Jones – albeit cryptically appeared to welcome the chance to take on the interim champion in the near future.

“Supply and demand at its finest,” Jon Jones posted on his official X account. “I love it.”

Expected to return later this year in November, former pound-for-pound number one, Jones has been heavily tied to a battle with the above-mentioned, Miocic in the main event of UFC 309 in Madison Square Garden. 

Who wins in a future title fight: Jon Jones or Tom Aspinall?

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Paddy Pimblett made a huge statement at UFC 304, scoring an easy first-round submission of King Green in under four minutes and likely clinching a spot in the UFC’s lightweight rankings.

After Pimblett nailed Green with several low kicks early in the fight, the veteran American made a questionable decision by trying to take down “The Baddy,” who is a grappling expert. Pimblett countered with a guillotine before transitioning into a triangle choke, which Pimblett told ESPN MMA’s Megan Olivi after the fight is his favorite kind of submission.

As Pimblett looked for an armbar, Green could be seen unconscious, giving him a submission win.

When Pimblett reflected on how the fight played out, he expressed concern that others might move the goal posts and say that Green, who was ranked No. 15, is not the kind of quality opponent to get him into the rankings.

The Liverpool native, however, had a counterargument in mind.

“First person in the UFC to submit Bobby Green, and that’s like his 25th UFC fight or something like that,” Pimblett said. “Even Islam [Makhachev] couldn’t do that. But people are going to keep underestimating me. People are going to move the goal posts now and say, ‘Oh Bobby is finished, Bobby this, Bobby that,’ when last week it was, ‘Bobby’s going to beat Paddy up. Bobby’s going to do this to him, he’s going to do that, he’s going to dog-walk him.’ What happened?”

Paddy Pimblett May Be Cageside For Renato Moicano vs. Benoît Saint Denis In Paris After UFC 304 Win

In the Octagon at UFC 304, Pimblett called out Renato Moicano for his next fight. Though the two have had exchanges on social media, the Brazilian s currently booked to face Benoît Saint Denis in Paris on September 28.

While Pimblett hopes to be placed at No. 10 in the rankings, he will take being at No. 15, as he looks up toward other contenders to continue his momentum and rise up the 155 ranks.

“Before this Bobby Green fight got made, me and Renato were speaking about each other on Twitter,” Pimblett said. “A lot of people up front of me in the rankings can’t really say no. The only thing about Renato now is that he’s got a fight. He’s fighting BSD in Paris. You never know, might end up going out there. Might end up being cageside for that.”

Moicano and Saint Denis are set to headline the upcoming UFC Fight Night in the French capital, with the former looking to build on his momentum from a knockout of Jalin Turner at UFC 300 and “God of War” hoping to bounce back from his loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 299.

• Read More: 4 Positives & 3 Negatives From UFC 304: Leon Edwards vs. Belal Muhammad 2

Continue Reading Paddy Pimblett Sends Message To His Haters Following UFC 304 Win Over King Green: ‘People Are Going To Move The Goal Posts’ at MMA News.

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Watch the UFC 304 highlights video and recap from Saturday’s UFC 304 main card between Paddy Pimblett vs Bobby ‘King’ Green.

UFC 304 took place on Saturday, July 27th, at the Co-op Live in Manchester, England.

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Jon Jones reacted to Tom Aspinall’s callout. Sort of.

Aspinall successfully defended his interim heavyweight title with a 60-second knockout of Curtis Blaydes in the co-main event of UFC 304 on Saturday night in Manchester. Following the victory, Aspinall called for a unification bout with Jones, who defeated Ciryl Gane in March 2023 at UFC 285 to win the vacant UFC heavyweight title.

On Sunday, “Bones” gave his first public reaction to Aspinall’s comments.

“Supply and demand at its finest, I love it,” Jones wrote on social media.

Jones is expected to make his first title defense later this year against Stipe Miocic, a matchup UFC CEO Dana White is steadfast in wanting to happen, despite the majority of the community hoping UFC switches gears to Jones vs. Aspinall. The former light heavyweight champ has teased retirement, and even has been setting up a fight with current 205-pound titleholder Alex Pereira over the past several months.

At the UFC 304 post-fight press conference, Aspinall sent a message to Jones — whom he assumed was locked in on his fight with Blaydes.

“Jon’s the undisputed champion, but I’m the best in the world, if that makes any sense,” Aspinall said. “We know what Jon’s doing. Jon was there, crossing his fingers and toes tonight hoping I’d lose to Curtis, let’s not bullshit about it. He posted about it loads anyway that I’m going to lose to him. That didn’t happen, so that’s the fight I want next.”

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Tai Emery delivered another highlight, this time in the RIZIN ring.

BKFC veteran Emery faced Charisa Sigala in a bare-knuckle fight at Sunday’s Super RIZIN 3 event at Saitama Super Arena in Japan. In the opening moments of the fight, Emery cracked Sigala with a big punch that broke her opponent’s nose to earn the first-round knockout victory.

Check out the finishing moments in the video below.

Emery gained notoriety after flashing the crowd in Bangkok in her BKFC debut in September 2022. Three months later, she returned to the BKFC ring and dropped a decision to Chisakan Ariphipat. The 37-year-old hadn’t competed since then, but made up for lost time with another quick finish.

Sigala, a past BKFC title challenger, has now dropped three straight. In her previous outing, the bare-knuckle veteran suffered a nasty ankle injury at BKFC KnuckleMania 3 in a February 2023 loss to Jayme Hinshaw.

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