The flyweight division of MMA does not see too many knockouts. This narrative changed when Deiveson Figueiredo wreaked havoc in the flyweight division. However, the Brazilian has moved up to bantamweight. Now, 7th-ranked Manel Kape is the knockout threat in the division and recently revealed how he got his knockout prowess.
Kape was a recent guest on Quinton “Rampage” Jackson‘s JAXXON podcast. On the podcast, Kape revealed he might have more knockouts than his fellow UFC flyweights, especially with body shots. The revelation surprised Jackson and co-host Bear Degidio. This led Jackson to ask whether he had prior training in boxing, to which Kape revealed an interesting fact.
My father was a former world champion [in] boxing. So I grew up infront of those boxing. I fight boxing before.
Manel Kape via JAXXON podcast
Kape revealed he won 11 of his 19 victories by knockout, which surprised Jackson. For context, Deiveson Figueiredo only had nine victories by knockout. Moreover, Kape has two consecutive body shot knockouts at Rizin, which gave him an opportunity to fight for the vacant Rizin bantamweight championship. Kape TKOed Kai Asakura to become the champion in the Japanese promotion.
Kape had a tough time in 2023. UFC scheduled him to fight Alex Perez, Deiveson Figueiredo, and Kai Kara-France. However, all three pulled out due to undisclosed reasons. However, he got to fight Felipe Dos Santos on short notice after Kara-France pulled out. Unfortunately for Kape, he had to pull out of scheduled fights against Matheus Nicolau twice in 2024.
Manel Kape reveals why he did MMA despite playing soccer internationally
Manel Kape has immense love and respect for football, which is known as soccer in the US. After all, Kape did Cristiano Ronaldo‘s ‘SIUUU’ celebration after his first UFC victory against Ode Osbourne via flying knee TKO. Moreover, he once claimed he was better than Khabib Nurmagomedov in football.
Manel Kape (via MMA FIghting)On the JAXXON podcast, Kape revealed he almost played football professionally. He also stated he had played internationally in the U-19 football team. The revelation surprised Jackson, who knew football players have a great future in Europe, to whom Kape revealed the reason for his transition.
So, I always fell in love with sport, with boxing in school, always fighting street, always fighting, you know? But when I started jiu-jitsu because my best friend put me in it, I felt the challenge of jiu-jitsu, you know? I felt the challenge… And every day, I learned new techniques, and I fell in love, you know? And I started to feel the love; soccer didn’t give me the challenge, you know, what I was getting in jiu-jitsu. I was like, okay, I was good, but not that good because I had somebody better than me.
Manel Kape via JAXXON podcast
When Kape played football, he felt nobody was better than him. Soon after, his BJJ training led to him in MMA. As he already had a great boxing background, it was relatively easier for his coaches to make him a complete mixed martial artist.
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