Bantamweight contender Muhammad Mokaev believes he is next in line for a title shot after his recent victory over Alex Perez at UFC Fight Night: Rozenstruik vs. Gaziev.

Mokaev had a fairly competitive fight against Alex Perez and the fight went to the decision. After the fight he called out flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja to fight him at UFC 301 which is scheduled for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

In a recent Sky Sports podcast, Mokaev revealed that UFC Chief Business Officer Hunter Campbell has promised him a title shot if he can defeat Alex Perez with a decisive finish.

“Hunter Campbell said, if I finish Alex Perez I’m getting the title shot. Now, even Pantoja I’ve trained with him in the past, I trained with him after my debut in the UFC and we had really close rounds. I was like 21 years old at that time it was early of my UFC career and now I am different, I have become more stronger and I think in top 10 everybody is same.”

“Alex Perez, Tim Elliott, Alexandre Pantoja they have been in this game for past 10 years. When they were fighting in the UFC, I was in refugee center. In skill wise and mental wise they are all the same, but I feel I am little bit different than these guys. I have been in the UFC for two years, I already have 6 fights in the UFC and people are expecting to be champion right now, to finish everybody in the division. But, nobody is asking Pantoja, he got the belt after 10 years, what was he doing?”

Muhammad Mokaev criticized the professional records of Alexandre Pantoja and Brandon Royval. He pointed out that both fighters have multiple losses in their careers, which he sees as evidence of inconsistency and a lack of dominance. Mokaev believes that this lack of consistency among the top flyweights presents an opportunity for him to become champion, as he remains undefeated.

“I mean, he (Pantoja) could’ve taken the belt earlier, but I am talking about one time he is winning and one time he is losing, he’s not going undefeated. So, it means like there is something in his camp in something or in his lifestyle that sometimes he’s motivated and sometimes he’s not. I understand that he has one defeat or two defeats, but when you’re like sometimes winning for example Brandon Royval, he is 16-7, so it’s like 50/50 of his career. So, it means they are consistent and consistency in this game is most important.”

Muhammad Mokaev thinks Brandon Royval is going to be an easy to finish fight.

Muhammad Mokaev believes he is the one to face Alexandre Pantoja. However, according to Mokaev, UFC CBO Hunter Campbell’s promise to face Pantoja included a condition that Campbell finish his opponent, Alex Perez, which he failed to do. Therefore, aside from a title shot, Mokaev’s primary interest lies in facing Brandon Royval, who recently defeated former flyweight champion Brandon Moreno at UFC Fight Night Mexico.

After Muhammad Mokaev’s performance against Alex Perez, Royval called Mokaev “boring.” In response, Mokaev said that Royval would be an easy opponent for him to finish.

“Realistically, if I would’ve finished Alex Perez, I deserved to fight for the title. I didn’t finish Alex Perez, it wasn’t my best performance and I don’t blame anyone there. Whatever the UFC wanted, the exciting fights, fans want exciting fights.”

“If they want 5 round fights and want me to finish somebody then that’s Brandon Royval. If they give me Brandon Royval and I finish him and I can put this on the table right? If I don’t finish Brandon Royval don’t give me another chance for the title, I’ll fight for one more time. That how much I believe I will finish Brandon Royval. In the top 05, he’s the easiest fighting style for me.” – Mokaev said at Sky Sports.

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