Muhammad Mokaev mauls Charles Johnson at UFC London

The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to us today, July 23, 2022, for UFC Fight Night 208, going down live from the o2 Arena in London, England.

Headlining the event is a heavyweight clash of contenders between no. 4 Curtis Blaydes (16-3) and no. 6 Tom Aspinall (12-2), and co-headlining is a middleweight contest between Jack Hermansson (22-7) and Chris Curtis (29-8).

Going down in the middle of the preliminary card was a flyweight showdown between 21-year-old prodigy Muhammad Mokaev (7-0), a soon-to-be 22-year-old many predict to become a future champion, and his opponent Charles Johnson (11-2).

Continue reading to see how this 125 lb encounter went down:

Official Result: Muhammad Mokaev def. Charles Johnson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Mokaev comes out very aggressive with his boxing, landing a beautiful overhand right as soon as the fight begins. He follows up with some more nice punches and kicks, he’s incredibly fast and accurate, before he ties Johnson up along the fence in search of a takedown. Mokaev handily controls the entirety of the opening round.

More of the same happens in the second, as Mokaev is able to take Johnson down, eventually gaining side control, before returning to his guard at the end of the round.

Johnson is down 18-20 going into the third, he’ll certainly require a finish in order to secure victory. Mokaev is a force. This man was born in 2000, it’s remarkable how good he is already. He’s absolutely mauling a 31-year-old man with ease.

Mokaev secures an early takedown to start the third but is unable to keep Johnson grounded.

Nonetheless, it doesn’t deter Mokaev, who remains stuck to him like glue until the final bell.

One could think Mokaev could’ve secured a finish had he kept up with his boxing, but this was still a dominant win for him at UFC London, as he improves his professional record to 8-0 (1 NC).

Gave him a one way ticket to Suplex City 💥

[ @MuhammadMokaev | #UFCLondon ] pic.twitter.com/GpsJ9AFPHl

— UFC (@ufc) July 23, 2022

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Brady Ordway

I became a fan of combat sports when I was 12 years old. I was scrolling through the channels and landed upon Versus, where WEC was televised. Urijah Faber fought Jens Pulver for the second time that night. That's the first fight I ever saw, and I was immediately hooked. So eventually, I began covering the sport in the fourth quarter of 2018, and have since started writing about animals as well. If you'd like to see those pieces, be sure to check out learnaboutnature.com!

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