Manel Kape vs. Rogerio Bontorin announced for UFC 275
Manel Kape already has a fight lined up after missing out on a recent opportunity.
The UFC announced Wednesday that Kape (17-6) will fight Rogerio Bontorin (17-4, 1 NC) at UFC 275 on June 11 in at at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore.
Kape, a former RIZIN champion at 135 pounds, is currently No. 11 in MMA Fighting’s Global Rankings at flyweight, while Bontorin sits at No. 14.
Wednesday’s announcement comes a few short weeks after Kape withdrew from a bout with Sumudaerji at UFC Vegas 52 on April 23 for personal reasons.
Kape is coming off of back-to-back knockout wins over Zhalgas Zhumagulov and Ode Osbourne. After emerging as a star in Japan’s RIZIN promotion, Kape lost his first two UFC fights by decision before defeating Osbourne at UFC 265.
Bontorin was originally scheduled to welcome Kape to the octagon at UFC 252 back in August 2020. However, Bontorin was forced to withdraw from that bout due to an ankle injury. Bontorin has lost three of his past four fights. In his most recent outing at UFC Vegas 46 in January, Bontorin dropped a split decision to Brandon Royval.
UFC 275 is headlined by a pair of title bouts as Glover Teixeira defends the light heavyweight championship against another former RIZIN champion, Jiri Prochazka, and Valentina Shevchenko goes for her seventh consecutive flyweight title defense when she fights Taila Santos.