“I came as refugee,” says Mohammed Mokaev. “I now have everything. I’m happy enough. I’ve money.”
Mokaev, born in Dagestan Russia but now a nationalised Brit, is the first stage panel guest at For the Love of MMA, a Mixed Martial Arts convention in Bowlers Manchester. The convention is back for its second year, again featuring a roster of current and former UFC fighters, stage talks, trader stalls, training seminars and photo ops.
(I incorrectly identify Mohammed Mokaev as Islam Makhachev. Apologies – I’m blaming memory difficulties.)
Now ranked 12th in the UFC Flyweight division, Moakev tells BBC’s Jamal Niaz people were nice to him when he arrived, getting a free gym membership, without which he wouldn’t have got the £50K from UFC President Dana White. He tells of his preparations before an MMA bout.
“I get nervous before every fight. If you don’t, you’re crazy. You don’t care about what’s happening.”
Mokaev didn’t get into fighting for fame. He wanted to be as successful as possible, he tells us. “I sent a message to Dana White saying, ‘in 4 years time I’ll be in the UFC.’ I was.” Making the prelims in UFC Fight Night in March this year, Mokaev got Performance of the Night for his submission over Cody Durden, and the London Atmosphere, he tells us, was so good. If his predictions are accurate, there’ll be 2 more fights before a title shot.
Niaz asks about Mokaev’s top fighters – he names Jon Jones and Anderson Silva, the latter of whom is also a guest this weekend. Niaz mentions the other UFC OGs in the building like Chuck Liddell. (More on them later.) Mokaev tells of his understandable astonishment that, a few years ago, he was playing as them on UFC console games. Now he’s appearing alongside the real fighters as a professional himself.
Finally, Niaz asks about coping strategies for things going wrong.
“Nothing goes right!” jokes Mokaev. “I was sick and waiting for my visa before my fight. If you want success, you have to go through stuff.”
Next up, returning to the stage – and to the event – is last year’s headliner, Canadian middleweight Georges St Pierre.
Niaz asks about a planned fight against Anderson Silva, a bout that didn’t materialise.
“I feel like I want to go back,” claims GSP, “but then I go home and I’m like, nah. When I was young I’d liked to have fought the best, to be the best. I was crazy. If the door was closed, I would have kicked it in. I’m not that guy now. I’m happy and healthy.”
JN: What was your most complete performance?
GSP: BJ Penn was the best fighter I fought, pound for pound. The performance was worse, I don’t know why. You don’t control it.
Niaz opens the questions to the audience. The first question is, like last year, in reference to GSP’s role in the Captain America movies.
GSP: I know (titular actor) Chris Evans; to share a screen with him is great. People don’t give stunt doubles enough credit. They make scenes look so good.
AQ: Would you consider a grappling match against Silva?
GSP: I’m not the same person I used to be. It doesn’t mean I’ll never compete again. Maybe for charity. I train not for performance but for longevity. The reason I train now is to increase quality of life, to make me feel better.
AQ: What's your advice for your younger self?
GSP: I would tell him it’s okay to be scared. Every fight is bigger than the previous one. Don’t over-train. ‘Train hard’ is a cliché. The trick is to train clever. Otherwise you can get injuries and depression. It’s better to be under the line than over. Do too less rather than too much. When I fought Bisping I got sick. They tried to get me to fight. Then Khabib retired. A few years later Dana White asked me to come back. It’s always like a chess match. What will be the outcome? With a few years out of performance, I still said ‘let me think about it.’ Next day his agent was still trying to get me to fight. I knew it was all a blag. It happens a lot. To be successful, you need to be aware of it.
AQ: Why did you change your walkout song?
GSP: I changed walkout song when I fought Matt Sera (another guest at the convention, as it happens), and he beat me. I’m not a superstitious man, but now I never use the same song twice.
AQ: How do you handle bad days?
GSP: Many days I feel like shit. These are the days that matter the most. It’s easy to be successful on good days, but you’ve got to be willing to put in the work on bad days. Try to be objective, not subjective. It’s done no matter what. AQ: Any advice other than hard work? GSP: You gotta have fun. When you have fun, you’ll learn. I stayed educated so that if it doesn’t work out, you’ve got something to fall back on.
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| Georges St-Pierre |
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| Anderson Silva |
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| Chuck Liddell |
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| GSP |
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