“Put him in front of me in the streets,” Flyweight contender Manel Kape BOLDLY predicts beating up middleweight legend Israel Adesanya – SportsVikings

Israel Adesanya and Manel Kape fought on the same card at UFC 293. Adesanya was the undisputed middleweight champion at the time, while Kape was the number 10 flyweight. Interestingly, the duo had a verbal altercation in the pre-fight press conference, which many thought Kape won against the bigger man.

Adesanya lost in the main event of UFC 293 to Sean Strickland, while Kape defeated Felipe Dos Santos, who replaced Kai Kara-France on short notice. Kape recently appeared on the JAXXON podcast and boldly predicted the result of a hypothetical street fight between him and Adesanya, surprising Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Bear Degidio, the podcast hosts.

I’m undefeated in the streets… I already beat many guys of his size. I don’t give a f*** [about his size]…Put him in front of me in the streets and we’re gonna see… [ Israel Adesanya] is pretty good, I’m pretty good too brother.
Manel Kape via JAXXON podcast

Even though Kape was full of confidence when he said he would defeat Adesanya in a street fight, it was still a wild prediction. Since he stood his ground against Adesanya at UFC 293, it is also very likely he wouldn’t hesitate to throw hands if such an opportunity arises.

Kape also revealed on the podcast that Adesanya apologized to him backstage after the verbal altercation. Nonetheless, it seemed Kape had not yet fully accepted the apology. For Kape, Adesanya shouldn’t have meddled in the dispute between him and Kai Kara-France, Adesanya’s teammate.

Manel Kape speaks on his move down to flyweight

Manel Kape is now fighting in the lightest weight class in the UFC. However, he fought at bantamweight in his previous promotion, RIZIN. Moreover, before he made his UFC debut, the last time Kape fought at flyweight was five years ago.

Manel Kape (Image via: IMAGO)

Kape came into the UFC as the RIZIN bantamweight champion. As such, Rampage Jackson asked why he moved down to flyweight when he came to UFC. Surprisingly, it was not his decision, as revealed on the JAXXON podcast.

It was the plan of the UFC because the division was the 125, I think was a little bit, what I can say, they wanted to bring more fire to the division, you know? And yeah, and I think I’m the perfect guy to give some hits to this division.
Manel Kape via JAXXON podcast

Kape revealed it was tough for him to meet the flyweight limit, but he has changed his lifestyle to do so. In hindsight, it is a great move, particularly due to his exceptional knockout-to-wins ratio in the division. Kape had already fought the current flyweight champion, Alexandre Pantoja, before the latter became the champion.