Alexandre Pantoja’s injury: Manel Kape calls it a technical mistake
UFC flyweight contender Manel Kape has explained why he considers Alexandre Pantoja‘s arm injury to be a technical mistake.
Earlier this month at UFC 323, Alexandre Pantoja defended his UFC flyweight championship against Joshua Van. However, in the early exchanges of that fight, Pantoja fell back to the canvas and extended his arm to try and soften the blow – but instead, he suffered a gnarly-looking injury. Joshua Van, meanwhile, was declared the new champion, and will look to defend the strap early in 2026.
As for Alexandre Pantoja, he has already said multiple times that he plans on coming back stronger from this. Whether or not he’s able to regain the belt, of course, is a different matter altogether, especially given that the likes of Manel Kape and Tatsuro Taira are now sniffing around in search of a championship opportunity themselves.
In a recent podcast with Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo, Manel Kape gave his thoughts on what went down with Alexandre Pantoja.
Manel Kape discusses Alexandre Pantoja’s UFC 323 injury
“It was a technical mistake by Pantoja [his injury]. When you go to the ground, you never extend your arm. This is a basic thing in jiu-jitsu. You roll, and you let it go. You cannot extend your arm. It was a technical mistake to get up fast.”
“We didn’t find out who the better man is that night. It’s happened, Joshua Van is the champion, and the division has to move forward.”
“When I get to the belt, whatever it is, it’s welcome. It’s welcome to the party.”
Regardless of your view on what happened to Pantoja, the overwhelming hope is that he isn’t out of action for too long. He had an epic run with the world title, and it would be a shame to see his career fizzle out.
