Flyweight contender and former RIZIN champ Manel Kape looked to bounce back from a loss to Muhammad Mokaev when he took on Brazil’s Bruno Silva at UFC Tampa on Saturday.
Silva had won four straight, landing himself the #12 spot in the rankings. Kape, who saw his own four-fight win streak snapped against Mokaev, was sitting at #9. And with the champion Alexandre Pantoja looking for contenders, both fighters could inch that much closer to a title shot with a great performance here.
Silva was switching stances constantly, but Kape didn’t care and fired low kicks at both legs. This was one of the very few matchups where Silva wasn’t at a speed advantage, and Kape let him know as he kept showboating after shot Silva missed. Silva landed a nice right hand, but a low blow forced a quick stop in the action. Kape was landing two shots for every one that Silva did. Another low blow from “Bulldog”, this one worse than the first, forced another break, but no points were taken. The round ended with Silva going back to his corner with a bloodied nose, down 10-9.
Kape built on his work from the opening round and was pulling away early in the second, but ate a big shot from Silva as he was showboating again. A third low blow from the Brazilian had Kape grimacing in pain on the ground and Keith Peterson took away a point. As the action resumed, Kape feigned as if he was still hurt, inviting desperate swings from Silva who now undoubtedly needed a finish. Kape was landing every combination he was throwing and started to showboat even more. It got to the point where he took a knee right in front of Silva, daring him to fire away. He lived up to his nickname “Starboy” as he was giving the fans a great show of skill.
Round 3 opened with Silva going for broke and landing some massive shots on Kape that he somehow just ate. The desperation out of Silva had Kape staying serious and stop the showboating. Kape noticed Silva taking big breaths between exchanges and attacked the body. A kick that appeared to graze Silva’s cup forced him to retreat. Kape, smelling blood, pounced on a compromised Silva to close out the show.
This might have been the best performance from Kape in the UFC considering the level of competition and the nice run Bruno Silva was on. He called for a rematch with the champion Pantoja and time will tell whether he will get it or not.
In his post-fight interview Kape went off on Brandon Moreno, Kai Kara-France, Alexandre Pantoja and even Israel Adesanya.
Official Result: Manel Kape def. Bruno Silva by TKO (Round 3, 1:57)
