Asu Almabayev stepped into his first UFC main event on short notice on Saturday, ranked #8 in the flyweight division and paired up with former RIZIN bantamweight champ Manel Kape.
Kape started the night at #5 in the 125lb division, and was on the short-list for potential challengers to champion Alexander Pantoja.
Early on, after a bit of feeling out, Manel Kape caught a kick, then let his hands go, though he couldn’t quite dump Almabayev, who pulled free. Almabayev relied on kicks and overhands, working from the outside during the opening couple of minutes. Kape meanwhile found a home for his left hand, and forced him to retreat more than once. Almabayev tried a spinning kick, but Kape stepped forward at the same time and the blow was off-target. Kape fired a knee, and Almabayev answered with a left hand. Kape was having great success with his right hand as the round progressed, as evidenced by the damage to Almabayev’s left eye.
Late in the round, Asu Almabayev ducked down for a takedown, only to see it stuffed. After another Kape attack, Almabayev looked for a bodylock, but lost it. Good round for Manel Kape, and a rough start for Almabayev.
Almabayev fired low kicks and spinning attacks early in the second round, but Kape was never standing still, and simply too hard to hit. Kape ducked under punches, side-stepped them, and seemed to grow more confident by the minute. When Almabayev did land, he tried to follow up with a jump knee, only for Kape to catch it. Almabayev’s most consistent success came with his kicks, but once again, as the round wore on, it was Manel Kape attacking, and Almabayev retreating. Knees and right hands were landing for Kape; Almabayev connected to the body. In the final 30 seconds, the fight was briefly paused for a would-be eye poke, but the review judge cageside ruled it a legal strike, and action was back underway within seconds.
After likely the winning the first two rounds, Manel Kape did not take his foot of the cage in the third. He put the pressure on and Almabayev shot for a takedown, only to eat several elbows. When they got back up, Kape worked Almabayev over along the fence as Asu covered up. Almabayev seemed to have issues with his eye, potentially from a graze that went unnoticed. Almabayev was motioning for a time out, but didn’t get it. Almabayev then literally ran across the round, turning his back on the fight while Kape pursued him. That was enough for ref Mike Beltran, who didn’t like what he was seeing and waved off the fight.
How much the eye poke in the third factored in is a question, but it was Almabayev’s job to fight on, and he didn’t. Kape, meanwhile, called out “who’s next against me? They’re going to deny again my title shot?” following the win.
Official Result: Manel Kape def. Asu Almabayev by TKO, Round 3, 2:16
