Manel Kape and Muhammad Mokaev couldn’t wait till Saturday night at UFC 304 to get their hands on each other, and instead, decided to fight each other in the lobby of the fighter hotel this past Wednesday.
Despite being on the early prelims portion of the card, the flyweight fight between Manel Kape and Muhammad Mokaev this coming Saturday is being highlighted as one of the best fights of the event.
The winner of this highly anticipated fight is likely to earn themselves a shot at the 125lb title, which is currently held by Alexandre Pantoja.
Manel Kape and Muhammad Mokaev pulled off each other after huge hotel fight
Only three days out from their grudge match at UFC 304, ‘Starboy’ and ‘The Punisher’ couldn’t wait to get their hands on each other.
Video footage emerged this Wednesday of the two flyweights and their teams having a huge fight in the hotel lobby of the fighter hotel.
This isn’t the first time these two have clashed outside the cage, as earlier this year, Kape allegedly punched and elbowed the 23-year-old at the UFC Performance Institute, ahead of Mokaev’s fight against Alex Perez.
Fortunately for Mokaev, it didn’t hinder him too much in his fight as he went on to pick up the unanimous decision win.
Although it is difficult to see either Kape or Mokaev in the video, Mokaev posted a screenshot on his Instagram story of ‘Starboy’ on the floor.
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Manel Kape claims Mokaev used to get tapped out by Pantoja at ATT
The 30-year-old hasn’t fought since September last year when he just about beat Felipe dos Santos. Since then, he has been scheduled to fight Matheus Nicolau twice, but after missing weight, the bout was rescheduled, and then he pulled out anyway.
Fans have been calling for ‘Starboy’ to be given a flyweight title fight, however, because of his tendencies on the scales and his growing reputation for withdrawing from fights, he still has a lot to prove.
Despite that, talking at the UFC 304 media day this past Wednesday, Kape made a big claim about Mokaev and the current champion, Pantoja.
“Pantoja can say a lot of things (about Mokaev) because they trained together and I know Pantoja (used to) submit him a lot, a lot, he made him tap a lot and that’s the reason why Mokaev doesn’t train at ATT (anymore),” the 30-year-old claimed.
The Brazilian champion doesn’t yet have his next title challenger, however, rumors continue to swirl that UFC newcomer, Kai Asakura will be instantly given a title shot.
Kape already holds a win over the Japanese star when they fought for the RIZIN bantamweight title in 2019. ‘Starboy’ believes there is no one on his level considering his four-fight win streak, and is confident that with a win over Mokaev, he will earn a title shot.
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