Following another exciting instalment of UFC Fight Night this weekend, Manel Kape recorded an impressive stoppage victory over Kyoji Horiguchi at the Meta Apex Arena on Sunday morning and subsequently put himself among the top contenders in the UFC Flyweight division.
Having met at the semifinals of the Rizin World Grand Prix in 2017, Kape was out for revenge given that he suffered a third-round triangle choke submission against Horiguchi at the event.
With referee Herb Dean in charge, the two fighters were summoned to the centre of the Octagon, prompting Horiguchi to engage with a series of leg kicks. In response, Kape followed with leg kicks of his own before he tagged his opponent with a combination causing a stumble.
Following an initial takedown that was stuffed, Horiguchi attempted for a single leg moments before the end of the first round and succeeded by putting Kape on his back.
It was in the second round where Horiguchi had more success on the ground after setting up a slick take down before getting into the half guard position. After recovering into full guard, Kape fought back with elbows on the ground while Horiguchi grabbed much-needed control time albeit with strikes that caused no real damage.
Horiguchi came out swinging in the third round and managed to land a big right hand. With Kape welcoming a fight on foot, both fighters engaged in a scrap. Kape appeared to have been stumbled by another stinging low kick, while he ducked during an exchange to set up a huge counter right that put Horiguchi on wobbly legs.
After Horiguchi was shoved to the ground, Kape unloaded on his opposite number to see out the fight via knockout.
Reflecting on getting the job done through adversity, Kape lauded Horiguchi as the best fighter he faced inside the Octagon before expressing that he now wants to fight for UFC Flyweight gold.
"I think he's the best fighter I've ever fought," Kape said in his post-fight interview.
"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."
Elsewhere, the first four fights did not go the distance as Vinicius Oliveira, Murtazali Magomedov, and Christian Rodriguez secured stoppages in their respective Featherweight bouts.
Also, Navajo Stirling recorded his fifth consecutive win in the UFC owing to a second-round finish over Ion Cutelaba.
UFC Fight Night Main Card results:
Manel Kape defeated Kyoji Horiguchi by TKO (strikes) at 2:42 of Round 3
Navajo Stirling defeated Ion Cutelaba by TKO (strikes) at 3:23 of Round 2
Christian Rodriguez defeated Hyder Amil by submission (guillotine choke) at 3:43 of Round 1
Murtazali Magomedov defeated Melsik Baghdasaryan by submission (twister) at 1:17 of Round 1
Vinicius Oliveira defeated Andre Fili by TKO (strikes) at 4:56 of Round 2