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Muhammad Mokaev headbutts opponent repeatedly, wins a Jiu-Jitsu title, then uses the post-match mic to campaign for a UFC return. That is the whole story from ACBJJ 22, and every part of it actually happened.<\/p>\n
The unbeaten flyweight, competing out of Cage AK MMA UK, beat Armenia\u2019s Moris Boleyan by unanimous decision in the No-Gi grand title bout at 132 lbs, closing a nine-minute match with a tight arm triangle.<\/p>\n
Boleyan \u2014 an 8-1 MMA prospect whose eight wins all came by submission \u2014 never tapped, but the choke was locked tight enough that Mokaev was declared the winner as time expired, sparking chants of \u201cheat\u201d as he was crowned champion.<\/p>\n
The short answer: the rules allowed it. Unlike most sport Jiu-Jitsu, ACBJJ permits a far wider range of attacks. Its rulebook allows strikes with the hands and legs \u2014 including stomping kicks \u2014 as well as elbows, knees and headbutts, both standing and on the ground, alongside unrestricted submissions and chokes.<\/p>\n
So the headbutts Mokaev threw were not a foul or a loss of composure; they were legal offense in a combat-grappling format that sits somewhere between No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu and a fight. As he took top control and began driving his head into Boleyan\u2019s chest, the commentary team called it plainly.<\/p>\n
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The match itself was genuinely competitive before that. Boleyan threatened guillotines and triangles early, while Mokaev escaped leg entanglements and shut down takedown attempts. Tensions flared midway, with the referee penalising both men \u2014 a kick for Mokaev, talking back for Boleyan.<\/p>\n
Mokaev has been campaigning for a return since the UFC cut ties in July 2024. He went 7-0 inside the Octagon, beating Manel Kape, Charles Johnson and Tim Elliott, and hit free agency off a UFC 304 win rather than the title-eliminator lane most undefeated prospects expect.<\/p>\n
The cage work was never the problem; the split came down to matchmaking and behind-the-scenes friction.<\/p>\n
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Since leaving, he has stayed busy in a way few released fighters manage. He returned to BRAVE CF \u2014 the promotion that launched his career \u2014 submitted Joevincent So at BRAVE CF 91, picked up wins in Karate Combat and 971 FC, and stopped Gerard Burns with a second-round head kick at BRAVE CF 100 to win flyweight gold.<\/p>\n
Along the way he met Arman Tsarukyan in a grappling match and finished Jorge Calvo in 42 seconds at WOW 31. Now the ACBJJ belt sits next to the BRAVE CF title.<\/p>\n
The callout came after the win, in a clip posted to X. Mokaev framed the whole two-year run as a completed assignment.<\/p>\n
In a fuller statement he added that he has won five fights in two years with four finishes, that he is taking over the 125 lbs division outside the UFC, and that he has no plans to slow down \u2014 \u201cI\u2019m still 26.\u201d<\/p>\n
None of it guarantees a reunion. The flyweight title picture is crowded, Alexandre Pantoja\u2019s orbit already has plenty of traffic, and the UFC has given no public sign of a change of heart.<\/p>\n
But Mokaev\u2019s pitch is simple enough to land with any fan: he was told to become champion somewhere else, so he went and did it \u2014 twice, in two different sports, while staying active at 26. Whether a man willing to headbutt his opponent on the mats is someone the promotion wants back in the cage is a different question, and it is the one Dana White will have to answer.<\/p>\n