Muhammad Mokaev picks up biggest win of his career, stops Tim Elliott late at UFC 294
The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to us today, October 21, 2023, for UFC 294, going down live from the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
Headlining the event is a championship rematch at 155 lbs between UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev (24-1) and UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski (26-2).
Co-headlining the event is a middleweight affair between former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman (20-3) and fellow top contender Khamzat Chimaev (12-0).
Headlining our preliminary card today was a flyweight contest between no. 10 ranked former title challenger Tim Elliott (19-13-1) and no. 11 ranked Muhammad Mokaev (11-0).
Following Elliott’s first UFC departure in 2015 he’d lay claim the Titan FC flyweight championship, defending it twice before finding himself on the cast of TUF 24.
Elliott would go on to win the show, going 4-0 in the house en route to challenging Demetrious Johnson for the UFC flyweight title. Once defeated by Johnson he would go 2-4 over his next six bouts before having a bit of a resurgence, going 4-1 in his last five coming in, the only defeat coming via disputed decision to no. 6 ranked Matheus Nicolau.
Mokaev on the other hand had gone 4-0 through his first four promotional bouts, picking up three submission victories along the way. What’s more, this 23-year-old stud went a whopping 23-0 as an amateur, claiming five titles in the process.
Continue reading to see how our preliminary main event went down:
Official Result: Muhammad Mokaev def. Tim Elliott via submission (arm-triangle choke) at 3:03 of round three
Elliott secured his 60th promotional takedown about 40 seconds into the bout, surpassing Demetrious Johnson’s divisional record in doing so. Mokaev returns to his feet about one minute later and attempts a few takedowns of his own, Elliott handily stuffing each one. Mokaev is able to eventually take Elliott down however, remaining on top for the final 90 seconds of the opening round.
Mokaev secures another takedown once round two begins, getting locked into a guillotine choke in the midst. The choke is tight, though he’s able to escape it safely. He’s then locked into a triangle choke by Elliott, which he was also deeply sunk into. Mokaev then picks Elliott up and slams him on his head, escaping the choke and remaining on top until the bell sounds.
Elliott attempts a takedown early in the third, getting taken down himself before Mokaev secures mount. Mokaev proceeds to sink in an arm-triangle choke for his third-straight third round submission victory.
Muhammad Mokaev submits Tim Elliott in the 3rd round #MMA #MMATwitter #UFC #UFC294 pic.twitter.com/ocgt2UCUP7
— ScotttishProblem (@ScotttishProb) October 21, 2023
This was an incredible performance from our young rising star Muhammad Mokaev; he battled some adversity early on, but kept his composure and picked up the biggest win of his career today at UFC 294.
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