UFC flyweight Asu Almabayev jumped at the chance to step in against Manel Kape at UFC Vegas 103 on Saturday night when he heard the opponent had fallen out of the fight.
“You know, I woke up in the morning and I saw the news that (Brandon) Royval must have been injured, so he pulled out of the fight,” Almabayev told reporters through a translator on Wednesday.
“I immediately wrote to a What’s App group I have with my managers and I said that I’m ready to fight. That’s how it happened.”
Almabayev (21-2) steps into a main event slot against Kape who will also be getting his first headlining spot.
“Manel Kape is a dangerous striker. His record speaks for himself. This is going to be a puzzle that we’re going to try and solve on Saturday. We’re going to do our job. We’re going to go in there and solve that puzzle,” he said.
“We’re going to expect everything from him. We’re not out here to have a chess match. We’re going to come out there and we’re going to bang.”
A win over Kape in the main event would set Almabayev up for a contender spot.
“I don’t know about top 5, but I would love to, with a win, to be the next contender for the belt,” he said.
“We’ll see what the UFC decides.”
Watch the entire media day scrum with Asu Almabayev above. He headlines UFC Vegas 103 on Saturday night against Manel Kape.
