Aljo with Delusional Take on Mokaev/Kape - "I thought it was a really good fight"

[TheMMAnalyst]

It's tough to know what game Aljo is playing at this stage of his career - he's already won a belt and defended it, then moved divisions successfully, and now has carved out a nice niche for himself despite being in not the best graces with the UFC Brass and the fans.

So what is it with these delusional takes on an objectively terrible fight?

Aljamain Sterling says it was ‘f*cked up’ UFC let Muhammad Mokaev go

"“You hear that supposedly he was told that if you don’t want to get cut, don’t keep shooting for takedowns,” Sterling said. “I don’t think he really kept shooting for takedowns in the fight against Manel. I thought he fought a really good fight. I thought both of them brought a really good fight. Outside of the animosity, I thought it was a really good fight. If you saw the animosity and thought it was going to be a crazy barnburner, these guys were going to be just throwing down, standing in the middle Max Holloway style, but that didn’t happen. It was very technical. I still thought it was a good fight."

Here are the fight stats for this contest:

UFC 304: Edwards vs. Muhammad 2 - Mokaev/Kape

TOTAL STRIKES

Muhammad Mokaev Manel Kape

30 of 82 20 of 48

ROUND 1
Muhammad Mokaev Manel Kape	10 of 29 7 of 16

ROUND 2
Muhammad Mokaev Manel Kape	10 of 32 10 of 19

ROUND 3
Muhammad Mokaev Manel Kape	10 of 21 3 of 13

In every single round in a 3-round fight neither fighter landed more than 10 significant strikes...this is at FLYWEIGHT, where fighters have the most energy/cardio, so should have the most output and fight at the most rapid pace.

Now listen, I understand why this was a bad fight - a lot to lose for both guys (Kape title shot, Mokaev title shot + entire career lol), stylistic poison (grappler vs. striker), Kape being known for feinting a ton like he's going to do a lot but never doing it while Mokaev is known for blanketing guys with control, Kape breaking his big toe early, etc.

What I don't understand is - how can Aljo legitimately claim this was a really good fight repeatedly (3 times in 3 sentences)?

• Is he friends with one of these guys?
• Is he trying to gas-light us into thinking terrible low-volume/control performances are entertaining because the fighters are very athletic & skilled (but don't put that athleticism + skillset to use)?
• Is it just kay-fabe and he is trolling the UFC brass?

Legitimately every single thread I've read about this fight on the Dawg or elsewhere the general consensus is everyone hated this fight and thought both guys tremendously under-performed.

So what's the logic behind this ruse from Aljo?

 

[kingmob6]

He is right.
It was better than almost all of his fights,.

 

[flektarn]

Is he trying to gas-light us into thinking terrible low-volume/control performances are entertaining because the fighters are very athletic & skilled (but don't put that athleticism + skillset to use)?

Aljo's fights are just as boring and very similar. Bro is just trying to hype up his own style

 

[Only Here for Attachments]

Of course he did

 

[Spath]

Aljo's fights are just as boring and very similar. Bro is just trying to hype up his own style

I remember Aljo spamming strikes against Yan (maybe the first fight? I’m not sure) like it was EA UFC video game. So he’s not always passive…

But yeah, the fight was bullshit and both fighters stocks went down. Not a good fight however you spin it. Maybe Aljo is trolling here

 

[AldoStillGoat]

I don’t get it. Are you guys trying to watch MMA, boxing or kick boxing?

 

[jitzmonkey]

Aljo's fights are just as boring and very similar. Bro is just trying to hype up his own style

Like an ugly chick complementing her twin's appearance?

 

[TheMMAnalyst]

I don’t get it. Are you guys trying to watch MMA, boxing or kick boxing?

We are trying to watch “fighting” where guys are trying to hurt each other.

 

[HHJ]

He would think that lol

 

[HerpDerp]

I mean maybe it wasn't Ngannou vs Lewis bad, and I can even admit that I found the level of criticism about the fight a bit surprising, but no matter how you spin it, it was an uneventful fight where neither guy showed anything close to what they're capable of.

The fact that Kape even had his toe break on him and couldn't place any weight on it during a majority of the fight, and that Mokaev was completely unwilling to press the issue and capitalize on it made the whole fight appear even worse.

 

[World eater]

I don’t get it. Are you guys trying to watch MMA, boxing or kick boxing?

In that fight, pants-pulling.

 

[flektarn]

I don’t get it. Are you guys trying to watch MMA, boxing or kick boxing?

there are exciting grapplers. Mokaev and Aljo are not in that grouping.

 

[Dorkman]

If he's leaning into the heel gimmick, brilliant thing to say really.

 

[Blastbeat]

dull recognize dull

 

[Uber_Noober]

Aljo keeps talking like that, he’ll find himself fighting for Brave FC with Mokaev

 

[VAfan]

boring fighters support each other? that fight was a shitshow.

 

[Islam Imamate]

It's tough to know what game Aljo is playing at this stage of his career - he's already won a belt and defended it, then moved divisions successfully, and now has carved out a nice niche for himself despite being in not the best graces with the UFC Brass and the fans.

So what is it with these delusional takes on an objectively terrible fight?

Aljamain Sterling says it was ‘f*cked up’ UFC let Muhammad Mokaev go

"“You hear that supposedly he was told that if you don’t want to get cut, don’t keep shooting for takedowns,” Sterling said. “I don’t think he really kept shooting for takedowns in the fight against Manel. I thought he fought a really good fight. I thought both of them brought a really good fight. Outside of the animosity, I thought it was a really good fight. If you saw the animosity and thought it was going to be a crazy barnburner, these guys were going to be just throwing down, standing in the middle Max Holloway style, but that didn’t happen. It was very technical. I still thought it was a good fight."

Here are the fight stats for this contest:

UFC 304: Edwards vs. Muhammad 2 - Mokaev/Kape

TOTAL STRIKES

Muhammad Mokaev Manel Kape

30 of 82 20 of 48

ROUND 1
Muhammad Mokaev Manel Kape	10 of 29 7 of 16

ROUND 2
Muhammad Mokaev Manel Kape	10 of 32 10 of 19

ROUND 3
Muhammad Mokaev Manel Kape	10 of 21 3 of 13

In every single round in a 3-round fight neither fighter landed more than 10 significant strikes...this is at FLYWEIGHT, where fighters have the most energy/cardio, so should have the most output and fight at the most rapid pace.

Now listen, I understand why this was a bad fight - a lot to lose for both guys (Kape title shot, Mokaev title shot + entire career lol), stylistic poison (grappler vs. striker), Kape being known for feinting a ton like he's going to do a lot but never doing it while Mokaev is known for blanketing guys with control, Kape breaking his big toe early, etc.

What I don't understand is - how can Aljo legitimately claim this was a really good fight repeatedly (3 times in 3 sentences)?

• Is he friends with one of these guys?
• Is he trying to gas-light us into thinking terrible low-volume/control performances are entertaining because the fighters are very athletic & skilled (but don't put that athleticism + skillset to use)?
• Is it just kay-fabe and he is trolling the UFC brass?

Legitimately every single thread I've read about this fight on the Dawg or elsewhere the general consensus is everyone hated this fight and thought both guys tremendously under-performed.

So what's the logic behind this ruse from Aljo?

Honestly I don't think the fight was that bad. What made it annoying to watch was the all the stupid prefight drama and the fact that they had to be forcibly separated only for them to never go past 2nd gear. Fans are okay with fighters who don't necessarily deliver barnburners every time if they're at least honest. Someone like Chael never pretended that he wasn't going to try to blanket you and he did indeed push the pace. Machida was known for being boring initially but he believed in his style and later it gave us some of the most iconic highlights in the sport so we could forgive some of his less eventful fights. Belal is maybe too honest and uneventful but still, you never experience a rug-pull where he promised to get a KO and then grinds to a win or spends the whole fight feinting at distance.

But Mokaev acting like a hooligan only to point fight was lame to watch. Add in the dirty tactics like trying to pants Kape and it made him seem very unprofessional. They should've resigned him and I want to see him back in the UFC purely because he is talented and belongs but I'm off the hype train for now.

 

[Kowboy On Sherdog]

 

[VinceArch]

The guy with the only boring fight on the 300 card thought it was good? Go figure.

 

[TheMMAnalyst]

Objectively speaking what makes a fight “good”? To me:

1. Violence (application or threat of)
2. Output (the more the better)
3. Technique (the level/quality of skill)

This fight had very little violence or output, there was some high level technique in fleeting moments to be fair.

It was a fight - each guy did a little bit of stuff, some of it cool. Did it raise either fighters stock? Will we ever remember it? They had the chance to become guys to really care about in this fight and they both honestly underperformed.