UFC flyweight prospect Jake Hadley has revealed the origins of his rivalry with fellow rising star Muhammad Mokaev ahead of his promotional debut.
Hadley makes his first UFC appearance this Saturday in Las Vegas against Allan Nascimento, a teammate of former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira. Hadley was signed to the promotion after impressing on the Contender Series, despite UFC boss Dana White being warned not to sign him because of his unprofessionalism before the fight.
Before turning professional in 2014, Hadley was the No.1 ranked amateur in the UK. At this time Mokaev was also on the come up and the pair quickly began a feud after challenging each other to a fight.
"At one stage I was the number one ranked amateur in the country, UK and Ireland. I wasn't really getting much backing, any sponsors or anything like that. I noticed this young kid coming up on the scene, he was only a couple amateur fights in," he told Mirror Fighting .
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"He had major backing from sponsors, he had a big social media following. I was like 'I want that dude, you think he's the man? I'm the man'. His camp at the time, Time Kaoban, turned down the fight multiple times.
"He called me out a few times when he was signed to Brave and I was signed to Cage Warriors. He knew the fight was never going to happen but he was just calling me out for clout. Then when I got in the UFC he got angry because I got there before him.
"It stems from him having everything handed to him on a plate and me working for it the hard way. I don't think he will ever fight me, I heard him say that everyone's been turning him down, but I've never been offered to fight him in my life."
Mokaev didn't turn professional until 2020 and has since racked up six wins, most recently winning his UFC debut in under a minute. The 21-year-old was a four-time IMMAF champion during his amateur career but Hadley has taken aim at this after claiming the promotion is tailored for "privileged kids".
"IMMAF is a funny thing, it's for privileged kids. If you were born into money, you go on IMMAF because you've got pay. At the time I was amateur, you were talking £2000-£3000 to fly to Las Vegas and pay for the kit and to fight.
"Now I come from the gutter, I come from s***. The people where I come from don't have money, fighting is supposed to be from the gutters but obviously he's a privileged kid.
"The year I was amateur I beat the geezer who represented the UK and I beat the geezer who represented Ireland. Both before they flew off to represent their countries for IMMAF, I beat both of them."
