Jake Hadley hopes PFL tournament triumph leads to domestic dust-up with Muhammad Mokaev
Jake Hadley and Muhammad Mokaev have been going back and forth for years and Birmingham's 'White Kong' plans to throw down the gauntlet to his nemesis once he claims the PFL's bantamweight tournament championship.
When both became free agents last year it was hoped that they would finally get an opportunity to end their war of words and subsequently quench the bloodlust of the watching world. However, Mokaev returned to Brave and as far as Hadley is aware there was no interest from the Middle East promotion to host the clash.
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'There's been no talk of me fighting him since leaving UFC,' Hadley told Uncrowned, days out from his semifinal bout with Marcirley Alves. 'There has been talk from him on social media saying, 'When Jake loses in the first round of the tournament I want to do a one-off fight in the PFL so I can beat him up,' or something like that. If PFL would have him and he was open to it I think it would be great.
'He was offered a fight with me in the UFC and he turned it down. He'll say that's because he was ranked above me, but I don't know. I think he talks a good game more than anything.'
Hadley's journey with the UFC came to an end last October, but he felt like he was behind the eight ball from the get-go. Although he stepped up on short-notice on several occasions for the company, he could never shake a bad reputation he gained seemingly from nowhere.
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'There was always, 'the matchmakers don't like him,' and this and that,' he recalled.
'I heard they didn't want to sign me. It's crazy to me because I've never spoke as much as two words to Mick Maynard. I spoke to Sean Shelby a couple of times. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I have no issues with them, but I really don't know why they have issues with me if that is true.'
'You know they cut me once? They cut me for not taking a flyweight fight on four weeks' notice. The only reason I didn't take the fight was because of the weight. I told them I had done a DXA Scan and had been told I was already too big for the weight division. They cut me for three days and then re-signed me.'
Offers came from all corners of the world when Hadley's surprising UFC exit became public knowledge. PFL made most sense for him and based on the spectacular Scottish twister finish he recorded in his debut, his new home appears to fit like a glove.
'Fighting now doesn't feel like the same pressure and I think that's resulted in me performing better in the cage. For a long time I was fighting in a place where I believed they didn't like me. Every time I fought I felt like if I didn't win I was going to get cut. Every time I was offered a fight I felt like I had to take it or I was going to get cut. It put that much pressure on me that I feel like I was going in there and trying not to lose instead of going in there and doing what made me in the sport — going in there to kill guys,' he explained.
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Now a father, Hadley realizes how much the tournament prize of $500,000 could change his young family's life.
'I've got the opportunity of a lifetime here. It would've taken me eight or nine fights to make the kind of money I'll make when I win this tournament. I think winning this tournament will prove that I'm the best bantamweight outside of the UFC, like Merab and people like that. I get to prove a lot of people wrong, and a lot of people right.'
Hadley admittedly puts every opponent he faces on a pedestal. 'This is the best geezer I've ever fought,' he tells himself every time, but it might be a little bit more true this time around. Despite his brilliant stoppage in the quarterfinals, he believes Alves' win over Leandro Higo was the most impressive of the round. He also underlined the Brazilian's nine knockouts in thirteen fights as something to be wary of.
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After such an impressive debut, you wouldn't doubt Hadley's chances of securing the bantamweight tournament title. And with PFL always on the hunt for eyeballs, it's hard to argue with the Renegade fighter's views on the potential of a prospective showdown with Mokaev:
'Why doesn't he come over here then? We could do a big fight in the U.K. It's a big domestic fight and it would sell well for PFL and make us a good amount of money. I'll win the tournament, he can come over here and we'll do it. I don't see why that can't happen,' he said.
'I don't think the UFC are going to have him back. He was [a] proper nuisance. He used to try fight people in the back — he tried to fight me in the back. Let's do it for real when I win this thing.'
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