Muhammad Mokaev, Manel Kape's teams scuffle in Manchester; Coach Eric Nicksick provides account

Before they meet inside the octagon at UFC 304, Muhammad Mokaev and Manel Kape’s teams got into a physical altercation, and Xtreme Couture head coach Eric Nicksick was in the middle of it.

The flyweight matchup between Mokaev (11-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) and Kape (19-6 MMA, 4-2 UFC), which takes place on the prelims of the pay-per-view event at Co-op Live in Manchester, England, on Saturday, is a big one with potential title implications.

Wednesday, members of the opposing teams got physical at the fighter hotel, causing security to quickly intervene. Among them was Kape’s coach Nicksick, who told MMA Junkie that he believes his fighter was set up.

According to Nicksick, Kape was asked to take a photo with Mokaev “for our Muslim brothers.” Kape agreed. The next moment, “Starboy” was attacked by Mokaev’s camp.

A portion of the brawl was captured on video, and is making the rounds on social media (via @Home_of_Fight on X). Nicksick can be seen trying to calm the scene.

Team Mokaev & Team Kape got into an altercation at the fighters hotel, possibly due to the earlier rumours of a bloody altercation at the UFC PI pic.twitter.com/473lZRB1Zl

— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) July 24, 2024

Nicksick confirmed nobody was injured in the brief altercation.

Later, Mokaev posted a selfie to his Instagram story with a caption that translates (via Google), “This is how it happens in life. They didn’t teach you how to fight.”

MMA Junkie reached out to Mokaev, but did not receive a response at the time of writing.