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UFC flyweight Muhammad Mokaev has shared his thoughts on the alleged backlash over the construction of a mosque in Moscow, Russia.
It all started when 'The Punisher' uploaded a picture of himself from the UFC 286 event on Twitter. In the picture, Mokaev's birthplace is displayed as 'Dagestan, Russia'.
Mokaev said that he was not okay with being associated with Russia and just wanted the UFC to mention Dagestan as the place he was born in.
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One Twitter user responded to the 22-year-old's tweet and said that MMA fans did not associate the UFC flyweight with the current actions of the Russian government.
Mokaev then claimed that he heard about Muslims allegedly facing backlash from Russians over the construction of a mosque in Moscow. 'The Punisher' added that he had not seen a similar issue in England, the country he currently resides in.
"I have read a lot of comments how Russians against Muslims who wants to building mosque in Moscow! That was enough for me. I can say the country where I live now have never openly been against mosques," wrote Muhammad Mokaev.
Then another individual chimed in, who compared the construction of a mosque in Moscow, Russia, to that of an orthodox church in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Mokaev responded by saying that there was a difference between the two cities.
How did Muhammad Mokaev fare at UFC 286?
In his fourth UFC outing, Muhammad Mokaev took on Jafel Filho at UFC 286 in London, England. 'The Punisher' continued his winning streak in the UFC and scored a finish on March 18.
But it was not an easy task for Mokaev. In the third round of the fight, Mokaev was trapped in a kneebar by Filho. It appeared that 'The Punisher' might tap to the submission, but Mokaev showed his grit and got out of the situation. The 22-year-old then proceeded to score a submission victory of his own with just 28 seconds left in the fight.
Despite his victory, many argued that Mokaev should have tapped out in the fight as he could have suffered severe damage to his knee.
In response to the criticism, Mokaev said that he would rather suffer a career-threatening injury than tap out to a submission.
"Seen some tweets saying, you didn’t tap but you might risk to end your career! I rather end my career without being quitter.. I’m in crazy pain right now but if I would tap it would hurt my heart even more."
