UFC flyweight Manel Kape (18-6) admits that before he can even get excited for a fight, he has to get his weight down in preparation.
“Starboy” discussed the weight issue ahead of UFC San Antonio this weekend, where he faces a former title challenger in Alex Perez.
“Yeah, yeah yeah. For me, it’s the first part, it’s [the] bad part [cutting weight]. I don’t think about him, I don’t think about the fight,” he explained during this week’s media day. “First thing is get the weight down, and then I can think about the fight, I can think about him, I can get excited.”
Kape has reason to be excited — Friday morning, he successfully made weight, making the fight with Perez a go. And Kape, a former RIZIN champ, believes a win Saturday will put him in line for the title.
“This win’s gonna be, definitely, the fight that’s gonna put me in line for the belt, because this guy is a former contender fighter, for the belt. I just need an easy win on Saturday night. It’s going to put me directly to the belt.”
An easy win, in fact, is what Manel Kape is expecting. “Yeah definitely. You can see, the way he fights, the way I fight, the match, the combinations, everything. I can definitely tell you it’s going to be an easy night,” said Kape.
Expanding on that when asked if he foresees an explosive finish, “definitely. Definitely. Definitely,” Kape exclaimed. “He’s a fighter that’s been a long time, not fighting. Not active. I see him a couple times in UFC PI, his shape is a mess. So definitely.”
Kape later gave his take on Brandon Moreno’s win over Deiveson Figueiredo, which closed out their quadrilogy earlier this year.
“It was a good fight. It’s something that I expected.” Kape cited age as a factor, noting that former champ Deiveson Figueiredo is “already old. I guess cutting weight was one of the determining [factors] of the loss. It was a great win, I was expecting it.”
Watch the full UFC San Antonio media day appearance by Manel Kape above.
