‘Starboy’ had already proven himself to be an incredibly dangerous striker before he signed with the UFC in 2020.
The flyweight contender has continued to live up to that reputation inside the Octagon with Manel Kape delivering some highlight reel finishes.
Whilst his run hasn’t been seamless, with Kape’s feuds against the likes of Muhammad Mokaev and Kai Kara-France landing him in hot water, his exciting style allows him to silence critics.
The 31-year-old returns to action this weekend at UFC Vegas 103 where following Brandon Royval’s withdrawal, Kape will face Asu Almabayev in a big fight for the division.
Though he has a big task ahead of him when facing the #8-ranked contender, the often outspoken contender is no stranger to the spotlight.
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Manel Kape earned revenge over Kai Asakura in his final fight in RIZIN
Before signing to the UFC, Manel Kape made his name in Japanese promotion RIZIN where he fought nine times after debuting in 2017.
He was 5-3 going into his final fight for the promotion on New Year’s Eve of 2019 where after producing back-to-back wins and finishes, he called for a rematch with bantamweight champion Kyoji Horiguchi.
With Horiguchi injured, the title was made vacant with Kape’s opponent for the main event of RIZIN 20 at Saitama Super Arena being his former foe and Japanese star, Kai Asakura.
Asakura had beaten him back in May of 2018 via a split decision but in securing revenge, Kape claimed the vacant title following an exciting striking match between them.
Asakura had some success by utilizing his size and reach advantage but Kape was consistently able to close that distance to land strikes on the inside.
This came to a head in the second round where in a back-and-froth boxing exchange, ‘Starboy’ landed a huge right hand to drop his opponent, piling on the pressure with ground and pound and dropping him for a second time to eventually get the stoppage.
With Kape vacating the title when he signed to the UFC, Asakura won the vacant belt in his next fight before losing it to Horiguchi in December of 2020.
The 31-year-old would end his run in RIZIN by reclaiming the belt by stopping Juan Archuleta at RIZIN 45 before joining Kape in the UFC where on his debut, he came up short when challenging Alexandre Pantoja for the flyweight title at UFC 310.
Manel Kape’s needs to turn a corner in his UFC career
Manel Kape has had a somewhat frustrating run in the UFC since debuting inside the Octagon back in 2021.
It took him a little bit of time to find his feet after suffering back-to-back losses but even when he did, his four-fight win streak came to an end against Muhammad Mokaev in a fight that did neither man any favors.
‘Starboy’ looked back to his stylish best against Bruno Silva last time out but that only makes his March 1 main event even more important.
Kape needs momentum after some questionable actions and a lot of fight cancellations but that won’t be easy to produce against Asu Almabayev who has won 17 fights in a row.