March 16, 2023 11:00 am ET
LONDON – Jake Hadley has a strong flyweight take a look at in entrance of him Saturday, however his first take a look at may be one in every of will energy.
Hadley (9-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) takes on Malcolm Gordon (14-6 MMA, 2-3 UFC) on the UFC 286 prelims at The O2 in London. The primary card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPNews and early prelims on ESPN+.
However within the buildup to that battle, Hadley has heard lots from Muhammad Mokaev (8-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC), who fights in a while the prelims towards Jafel Filho. Mokaev on Wednesday detailed a run-in with Hadley on the fighter resort and stated Hadley wasn’t occupied with a confrontation and stood behind his father.
However Hadley’s model of the story is slightly totally different.
“The child’s simply an fool,” Hadley stated on the UFC 286 media day. “I imply, he’s coming over to me attempting to battle me within the resort – however you don’t need to battle me within the cage. He’s preventing a debut man. He was like, ah, I gained’t battle you since you misplaced us towards Allan (Nascimento) and all this. However then he desires to battle me within the resort. Like, what is that this man doing? He’s a complete fool. If there’s such an issue with me, then why don’t you simply battle me in a cagefight? We are able to’t be preventing right here. Individuals are going to interrupt it up. Individuals are are going to get in hassle. What’s are going to occur if I sock him in his face when he comes and closes the space? I’ve already had employees complain about me earlier than, so that they’re going to be complaining, ‘Oh, you knocked Mokaev out’ within the again and so they’re all going to moan at me. “I’m the one who’s painted because the dangerous man all of the whereas, however but he’s coming over to me. He’s like, ‘Bro, calm down – again up, bro.’ … If there’s a lot of an issue, then both battle me or flip up at my health club or one thing – as a result of he’s in Birmingham all of the whereas, anyway – and I’ll f8cking bang you on the market, no downside about it. However why are you attempting to battle me within the resort? It is unnecessary. Then these fights are going to be off, then my battle’s going to be off and it’s going to be we’ve educated all this time for nothing. (He’s a) dumb child.”
Hadley stated the animosity between the 2 of them stems from their shared historical past within the U.Okay. MMA area, together with once they had been amateurs.
“I’ve had a number of (incidents) from the years, as a result of clearly he was an beginner once I was beginner,” Hadley stated. “He stated, ‘I’m going to hit you with a chair,’ ‘I’m going to f*cking do that and I’m going to do this.’ Once you threaten violence while you see any person, it places you in your toes. You’re like, ‘All proper, if he’s going to come back at me, I can’t let him shut the space. Growth. He’s going to be out of there.’ So I count on the safety to be a bit extra on level”
Hadley gained his method into the UFC by Dana White’s Contender Sequence in 2021, however misplaced his 2022 promotional debut to Nascimento in an upset. However he bounced again this previous November with a second-round submission of Carlos Candelario.
Try Hadley’s full media day interview within the video above.
For extra on the cardboard, go to MMA Junkie’s occasion hub for UFC 286.
