It seems not everyone is impressed by the boxing skills that helped guide Ilia Topuria to two-division title glory in the UFC.
Topuria knocked out Alexander Volkanovski to reach the throne at featherweight before defending it against Max Holloway. That was the story of the Spaniard’s brief reign at 145 pounds.
At UFC 317, Topuria battled Charles Oliveira for the lightweight title, which Islam Makhachev vacated ahead of his welterweight move this year.
As he had promised, Topuria knocked Oliveira out in one round, once again displaying vicious and powerful boxing to render a foe unconscious.
‘El Matador’ has long been in the conversation as one of the UFC’s best boxers, and Saturday’s result only strengthened his claim to the top spot in the eyes of many.
Not this man, however…
Manel Kape claims to be a better boxer than Ilia Topuria
One man who doesn’t recognize Topuria as the UFC’s best boxer is flyweight contender Manel Kape.
In a now-deleted post on X prior to the UFC 317 main event, Kape refused to count Oliveira out while dismissing those claiming Topuria’s boxing to be “elite.”
After that suggestion drew backlash from some fans – one of whom wrote, “Not an elite boxer is the wildest s— I’ve ever heard in my life” – the Angola-born Portuguese fighter doubled down.
“You can rank him (Topuria) as number 2 or 3, that’s fair. But when it comes to number 1, that’s me,” Kape wrote. “No comparison, I operate on a different level about boxing for MMA & boxing. But this isn’t a conversation for fanatics, it’s one for those who truly understand the game.”
Kape continued defending his stance in a follow-up post, claiming that no bias influenced his assessment.
“I’ll settle this debate about ‘the best boxer in the UFC’ with my personal ranking, no fanaticism, no favoritism, just a well-analyzed perspective.”
Manel Kape missed out on a big opportunity on Ilia Topuria-headlined UFC 317 card
While the night on June 28 went to the likes of Topuria, Alexandre Pantoja, and Joshua Van, Kape was originally scheduled to have his own chance to make a mark.
Before Van was drafted in on short notice and likely earned his title shot in a Fight of the Year contender against Royval, ‘Starboy’ withdrew from his scheduled clash with ‘Raw Dawg’.
With that, Kape now has 11 canceled fight dates in the UFC, which is more than he actually has bouts inside the Octagon (9).
Those issues making it to the cage, both due to his and opponents’ withdrawals, have prevented Kape from being able to challenge for a UFC title. And he evidently has more work to do after Van jumped the line in emphatic fashion at UFC 317.