Las Vegas, NV — UFC flyweight contender and former RIZIN bantamweight champ Manel Kape sees himself as the next man in line in the 125lb division.
Kape (19-6) faces Matheus Nicolau at UFC Vegas 84 this weekend, heading into the fight on a four-fight win streak. The bout is a rematch, a chance for Kape to right a wrong after losing a split decision to the Brazilian in 2021.
Should he win, despite a high profile bout between Brandon Moreno and Amir Albazi headlining UFC Mexico City, Kape believes it will be he who is the number one contender.
“It’s a good fight, I hope Amir wins [against] Moreno. But he’s not the top contender fight,” Kape told media outlets including Cageside Press at Wednesday’s UFC Vegas 84 media day. “The top contender fight is me. I fight aggressive, I have the type of gravity to be a champion, so I’m the number one contender for the title after Saturday night.”
“Starboy” Kape was also critical of champ Alexandre Pantoja‘s most recent performance, which saw him pick up a win over Brandon Royval. The fight was something Kape called “a little bit sloppy,” then later expanded on the champ’s showing.
“It’s not a good performance. It wasn’t a good performance, you can see a lot of holes in his game on that night. They’re the holes that we’re going to take advantage of his game to win against him,” stated Kape. “Like I said it was a sloppy fight, it was not the best fight of his. But like I said, he did good to win.”
“I’m going to expose his game. He took a lot of damage, and I believe that against me, one, one shot, he’s already on the floor. He couldn’t take too much damage against me.”
Watch the full UFC Vegas 84 media day appearance by Manel Kape above.
