Former Rizin bantamweight champion Manel Kape finally returned to the octagon last night at UFC Vegas 66 for the first time in over a year, where he walked straight through David Dvorak en route to a unanimous decision victory.
Following a kimura attempt at the end of the opening round, where if there were ten seconds left in the round, he certainly would’ve secured the finish, Kape nearly knocked Dvorak out on two separate occasions in round two, before ultimately winning the third and final round.
This improved Kape’s win streak to three-straight, as he handily defeated the no. 9 ranked flyweight contender.
Kape had the following to say in regards to his stellar performance at UFC Vegas 66 in his post-fight interview:
“He’s (Dvorak is) still slow. He’s still slow. He just changed his game plan. It was not usual he would fight like he (fought). Normally, if you watch his last fights, all of the fights in his career, he’s all the time the man in the center of the ring. This time, he chose to be the man back (against) the cage. I don’t know if he worked a long time for that, but if you didn’t put in work or put in the fights so many times, you’re going to lose. You’re going to lose.
“I think I was breaking his arm (with the kimura), but he showed me he has a lion heart, a spirit of sacrifice. He has a big spirit of sacrifice. He just showed he doesn’t want to lose this fight. He showed he wants to be there. He showed himself that he’s tough, but he paid the price for that.”
Following a four-fight year last year in 2021, where Kape made his UFC debut and ended the year with a pair of back-to-back knockout victories, this was Kape’s first fight in 2022. He didn’t appear to be rusty whatsoever, which is perhaps what led him to taunt his opponent comfortably.
“I feel like fish in water, you know? When I step in the cage, I feel very comfortable. I do everything that I do. I do everything I want. It’s my space, so I have a little bit of fun like I didn’t have for a long time. I just want to show this division how comfortable I am inside the cage.”
Who would you like to see Manel ‘Starboy’ Kape face next?
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