The UFC 286 fight between Jafel Filho and Muhammad Mokaev has been one of the strangest ones to date.
And not just because Mokaev refused to tap out to a gnarly Kneebar.

At one point during the fight, Mokaev seemingly tapped on his opponent’s back, in a peculiar position – where the referee wasn’t able to see the alleged tap take place.
Watch it below:

@Ufc @BBBofCuk Muhammad
Mokaev win needs to be overturned or ruled a no contest. That was clearly a tap the moment he tapped Jafel Filho let go. Watch the video pic.twitter.com/vRvRUfNCGQ

— Justin Graham (@jgraham00) March 19, 2023

Mokaev ultimately won the bout via submission. However, Filho now wants the fight outcome to be reconsidered.
For, in his words, Mokaev didn’t just seemingly tap once – but for a total of three times.

Here’s what he told MMA Fighting:

[Mokaev tapped] at least three times. I felt him tapping on my back like he was hiding, with malice.
There was another situation I went for the Guillotine and then attacked his injured shoulder, he tapped and I loosened it up a little bit.

I was looking at the referee the entire time.

The Kneebar, I felt him tapping with his foot and the referee asked him: “Tap?”
I loosened it, and he was able to twist his knee a little bit.

However, Mokaev denies the taps ever took place:

Listen, Ariel, if I didn’t tap to my knee, do you think I would tap to—what he said? Guillotine, right?

Guillotine wasn’t even locked. How the hell people would actually believe I would tap to this Guillotine that can’t put me to sleep?

Basically, his foot was in my boxers, and he said: “Sorry.” He said: “Sorry, sorry.”
He stopped and I said: “All good. All good. Let’s go.”

Muhammad Mokaev shoots down claims he tapped in the first round at UFC 286 🚫 #TheMMAHour

“Basically, his foot was in my boxers and he said, ‘Sorry, sorry.’ He stopped and I said, ‘All good, all good, let’s go.’ That’s what I said.”

▶️ https://t.co/JcrgzatfWO pic.twitter.com/GUF3A3wxLc

— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) March 20, 2023