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Manel Kape’s power is to be marveled at. He erased a decade-old loss to Kyoji Horiguchi in their UFC Fight Night main event.
When they first met in Japan, Horiguchi overwhelmed a raw, athletic Kape with his UFC-caliber experience. Kape believed he had closed the gap between them in the nine years that had passed. Horiguchi’s incredible longevity had the rematch trending in the same direction as their previous encounter. However, Kape now wields enough skill for his power to break through.
“If I touch you one time, believe me, you’re dead,” Kape said in his post-fight interview.
Kape dropped Horiguchi with a crushing right hand partway into Round 3. It was shaping up to be a bad round for Kape, who had been stunned on the feet and had his leg damaged by a checked kick after being controlled on the ground in the previous round. But once he connected, he capitalized. Horiguchi tried to seek shelter, but Kape pinned his wrist and delivered devastating ground strikes, including an uppercut that faceplanted the former Bellator and Rizin champion.
“I think he’s the best fighter I’ve ever fought,” Kape said, putting Horiguchi ahead of flyweight champion Joshua Van and former champ Alexandre Pantoja. “I became what I became from fighting him. I wanted to be like him. If I’m here in this position, it’s because of Kyoji.”
“I fought the best fighter in this division,” Kape said. “I need to fight for the belt.”
Kape put himself in a strong position with such an impressive finish. Other than Pantoja, he’s undoubtedly the most deserving flyweight challenger after knocking out Horiguchi, who had only lost to former flyweight champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson in the UFC.
UFC Fight Night: Kape vs. Horiguchi card, results
- Manel Kape def. Kyoji Horiguchi via third-round TKO (punches)
- Navajo Stirling def. Ion Cutelaba via second-round TKO (punches)
- Christian Rodriguez def. Hyder Amil via first-round submission (guillotine choke)
- Murtazali Magomedov def. Melsik Baghdasaryan via first-round submission (twister)
- Vinicius Oliveira def. Andre Fili via second-round TKO (punches, elbows)
