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“The Flyweight Division Has a New Star”: Henry Cejudo, Jamahal Hill & MMA Pros Approve Muhammad Mokaev After Unreal Resiliency at UFC 286

Published 03/18/2023, 3:51 PM EDT

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Rising flyweight prospect Muhammad Mokaev continued his winning run at UFC 286. The Dagestan-born British fighter submitted Brazil’s Jafel Filho in the prelims opener in the O2 Arena. Moakev showed the heart of a lion as he survived a painful-looking submission to submit Filho in the last seconds of the fight.

Mokaev is undefeated in his career and is 3-0 in the UFC since his debut in 2022. His last win came at UFC 280 against Malcolm Gordon in Abu Dhabi. With the show coming to his hometown, ‘The Punisher’ was not going to sit this one out.

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Mokaev faced stiff competition, on paper at least, from Jafel Filh0. The 29-year-old Contender Series alumnus was on a 5-fight win streak. ‘Pastor’ came

Fans react to UFC 286

The 22-year-old came in as a heavy favorite and established dominance from the very first round. The #12 ranked flyweight dominated his opponent from bell to bell. However, he found himself in trouble in the final round after Filho locked in a tight kneebar.

Despite wincing from pain, Mokaev refused to tap. His resilience paid off as he was able to best an exhausted Filho via a rear naked choke later in the round. After UFC 286, Mokaev will go home with his ranking and his undefeated streak intact.

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Fans on Twitter had quite a few reactions to that Mokaev win.

Mokaev’s resilience in the face of the submission also earned him some commendations.

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Read More“Nobody’s Going to Want to Fight in the UK”: Fans Frustrated and Angry as “English Judges” Make a Terrible Call at UFC 286 to Spoil a High-Level MMA Fight

What did you guys think of Mokaev’s performance at UFC 286? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by:

Yeswanth Praveen

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Yeswanth Praveen is a UFC writer at EssentiallySports. His interests mainly lie in the realm of MMA, bodybuilding, and the fitness industry. He finished his Master's in English literature from EFLU, Hyderabad.
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