Manel Kape thinks flyweight title rematch with Alexandre Pantoja would be much different after UFC 304
MANCHESTER, England – Manel Kape met the media Wednesday ahead of his fight at UFC 304.
Kape (19-6 MMA, 4-2 UFC) takes on Muhammad Mokaev (12-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) in a flyweight fight on the ESPN+ preliminary card at Co-op Live in Manchester, England. At media day in Manchester, Kape took questions from media members before his fight.
Kape and Mokaev started out on the main card, but were moved to the early prelims. Kape speculated that Mokaev hasn’t earned a main-card spot on a pay-per-view, but also said he’ll be glad to wrap his fight up earlier in the night so he can go out in Manchester to celebrate.
But he also thinks his fight with the unbeaten Mokaev could lead to a title shot with flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja. Pantoja beat Kape by decision in Kape’s UFC debut and return to flyweight after spending time as Rizin’s bantamweight champion.
“The first fight was not a fight,” Kape said at Wednesday’s UFC 304 media dai. “We were more cautious with each other, actually – it was not a fight. I won the third round. The second one was competitive. It’s going to be fun. I believe that the next time, if I face him again, it’s going to be like when he faced Deiveson Figueiredo – the fights going to be similar. It’s going to be that type of the blood.”
Check out Kape’s full media day interview in the video above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 304.