Muhammad Mokaev: Summer return speculated for unbeaten UFC superstar
- Liam Hampton
- 25 March 2023
Muhammad Mokaev secured another statement victory in his young MMA career at UFC 286, defeating tricky Brazilian Jafel Filho by submission late in the final round.
Despite the win, it was a kneebar that Mokaev was caught in that attracted most of the headlines.
With the submission locked in tight Mokaev appeared to be staring down the barrel of a first career defeat in front of his home crowd.
Displaying the heart of a lion, Mokaev refused to tap and fought his way out of the submission, eventually taking his opponents back to submit him with a rear naked choke later in the round.
During the jubilation of his post-fight celebration, it was obvious the kneebar had done significant damage as Mokaev limped to the side of the octagon in an attempt to climb it, leaving everyone watching with the same question.
"How bad is that injury?".
Mokaev answered that in the days following the fight, confirming he had a partial tear of his MCL and expected to be back training within 6-8 weeks.
Whilst a partial MCL tear and the resulting layoff is hardly an insignificant amount of time, a parallel example over at ONE FC shows just how fortunate Mokaev is.
In a match for the bantamweight grappling title, champion Mikey Musumeci caught opponent Bayanduuren Gantumur in a similar kneebar which he refused to tap from.
That has resulted in the Mongolian suffering a torn ACL, a torn MCL, a torn meniscus and a broken ankle.
The minimum amount of time Gantumur will be sidelined for is a year, however it is unsure if he will ever be able to compete at the same level again with the devastating extent of his injuries.
Mokaev plans to return to competition in the summer with a fresh hunger and a top ten name stood in front of him.
