Muhammad Mokaev reveals return timeline amid knee injury, claims top 10 flyweights not accepting the fight

Flyweight prospect Muhammad Mokaev battled through an injury and escaped a submission attempt on his knee to win against Jafel Filho at UFC 286 via neck crank.

However, Mokaev's hyperextended knee bore clear signs of injury even as he celebrated his victory. He later confirmed that he had suffered a partial MCL tear.

In the latest update from the English fan favorite, he stated that he was on track recovery-wise and provided a potential return date:

"Thank you for all you messages about my knee! Really I felt like I won I title with this kind of support l! Recovery going well alhamdulillah, I’m trying my best to fight in London if not then I’ll fight in august in states"

Mokaev also mentioned that his return was being hampered by a lack of willing opponents as he is being avoided by the top 10 contenders from the flyweight division.

He challenged the higher-ranked fighters to come and stop his 'hype train':

"Still nobody from top 10 accepting the fight even with me having one leg [smiling face with open mouth and cold sweat emoji] I understand they don’t wanna look down on ranking but I’m undefeated, if I’m that easy opponent why don’t you come and stop “hype Train” like these top 10 are saying [grinning face emoji] I’m here"

Check out Mokaev's tweets below:

Mokaev also claimed to be the most active fighter in the featherweight division over the past year and challenged other contenders to do the same.

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Who will Muhammad Mokaev fight next?

Muhammad Mokaev's five-fight winning streak and unbeaten professional record across 11 fights were the closest to being broken in his last outing against Jafel Filho. But the flyweight showed extraordinary heart to survive the kneebar and emerge the victor.

Despite the gruesome injury, he continued to call out higher-ranked contenders. Mokaev targeted Matt Schnell in a now-deleted tweet and wrote:

"Matt Schnell, you said you don't want to fight in the UK, that's fine! I will come to the US to your backyard and fight you there, how about that? July/August, let's go!"

Check out a screenshot of his deleted tweet below:

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Muhammad Mokaev has also suggested Manel Kape as a potential opponent for himself.

He stated that he had respect for Kape's striking but does not believe the Angolan can match his ground game.