Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is just one day away from the upcoming UFC Vegas 119 mixed martial arts (MMA) event, which is set to go down tomorrow night (Sat., June 20, 2026) on Paramount+ from inside Meta Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. UFC Vegas 119 features a flyweight main event between 125-pound standouts Manel Kape and Kyoji Horiguchi, a five-round showdown that could shake up the division Top 5.
Before we dive into the main and co-main event, which includes the 205-pound collision between
unranked light heavyweight bruisers Ion Cutelaba and Navajo Stirling, check out Andrew Richardson’s “X-Factor” breakdown for the rest of the UFC Vegas 119 main card by clicking here. Get all the latest “Kape vs. Horiguchi 2” odds and betting props courtesy of FanDuel right here. For complete live results and play-by-play click here.
125 lbs.: Manel Kape vs. Kyoji Horiguchi
Manel “Starboy” Kape
Record: 22-7 | Age: 32 | Betting line: -155
Wins: 14 KO/TKO, 5 SUB, 3 DEC | Losses: 0 KO/TKO, 2 SUB, 5 DEC
Height: 5’5” | Reach: 68” | Stance: Southpaw
Significant Strikes Landed Per Minute: 5.04 | Striking accuracy: 56%
Strikes Absorbed Per Minute: 4.08 | Striking Defense: 57%
Takedown Average: 0.40 (30% accuracy) | Takedown Defense: 81%
Current Ranking: No. 2 | Last fight: Knockout win over Brandon Royval
Kyoji “Karate Kid” Horiguchi
Record: 36-5, 1 NC | Age: 35 | Betting line: +130
Wins: 15 KO/TKO, 6 SUB, 15 DEC | Losses: 2 KO/TKO, 1 SUB, 2 DEC
Height: 5’4“ | Reach: 63” | Stance: Orthodox
Significant Strikes Landed Per Minute: 3.77 | Striking accuracy: 47%
Strikes Absorbed Per Minute: 2.13 | Striking Defense: 63%
Takedown Average: 1.61 (40% accuracy) | Takedown Defense: 61%
Current Ranking: No. 5 | Last fight: Unanimous decision win over Amir Albazi
If you’re not a fan of these quiet-ass APEX cards at the UFC headquarters, I have good news: UFC won’t stage another one until the second week of August. Prior to the summer break, the promotion will ask flyweight contenders Manel Kape and Kyoji Horiguchi to run it back atop the “Sin City” fight card, and I have to believe the winner is leaving Las Vegas with a 125-pound title shot and taking on the winner of the Alexandre Pantoja vs. Joshua Van rematch — unless matchmakers screw “The Cannibal” and take advantage of the beef between Kape and Van. Then again, we can’t start making plans until “Starboy” makes weight, which is never a given, because the promotion will straight up cancel his fight if Kape can’t make his mark this weekend on Paramount+ (sign up here).
“This is a perfect scenario for the rematch and revenge,” Kape told UFC.com. “Back in the time nine years ago, I was a young kid, only training with my brother, my cousin, and we faced a guy with a big team behind him, already been all these experiences in the UFC. Looking back at that time, we did a helluva job with him; I think it was the hardest fight the had in Rizin. No resources, only me, hungry to face a guy with everything he had, but I have now even more. Now it’s equal. If without nothing I did what I did to him and (eventually) became a champion, imagine right now? I’m a different fighter. It’s a perfect scenario to get revenge.When we fought, he then fought for the title, for the finals, and now is the (same thing). Whoever wins is gonna fight for the title. It’s very beautiful. God wrote these plans, and right now, we’re equal.”
“The revenge is a sweet thing, but my head is not that way; my head is focused on my goal to fight for the title, be champion,” Kape added. “No one has been doing better than me. I think my last three fights have fascinated all the division, the company — I’ve been delivering a spectacular show — and I’m the ambassador of this division. It has to be me. But right now, I’m not predicting nothing about this. I’m focused, and I’m optimistic on my victory. I have a strong belief I’m gonna knock this guy out. I’ve been knocking people out and this time isn’t going to be different.”
Kape was submitted by Horiguchi in the final round of Rizin’s Bantamweight World Grand Prix Tournament back in late 2017. That was roughly nine years ago and both fighters are clearly very different athletes at this stage of their respective combat sports careers. Kape has won seven of his last eight with five blistering knockouts while Horiguchi is riding an eight-fight unbeaten streak with three submissions. I don’t know if that’s enough to make anyone care about this fight card, simply because it has the misfortune — along with this overseas snoozer — of being sandwiched between UFC White House and UFC 329, featuring the return of Conor McGregor. To be fair, fans never really cared about the flyweight division anyway, to the point where UFC almost shuttered it altogether, but this will still prove to be a fun fight for however long it lasts. Something tells me we won’t be needing all five rounds for this long-awaited do-over.
“He has a lot of confidence right now,” Horiguchi told UFC.com. “He used to be more natural in his movement. But now he has technique, and that’s a big difference. It’s a different preparation. He’s a very different fighter. He likes striking, so he will come in (looking to) strike, of course. He’s not the same opponent. It’s like a new opponent. And also, he has good striking and good takedown defense, so I’ll focus on mixing up everything and using everything. Then I will finish him.”
“I think (it’s a title eliminator), but I don’t know,” Horiguchi added. “I can’t decide — the UFC decides everything. So that’s why I need to get a good win, by finish, by submission, any way I can. A good finish. But it’s a tough fight. Whether it’s a decision or a finish, it doesn’t matter. I will get the win. Of course, I need an exciting fight, but sometimes you have to be smart. My coach (Mike Brown) always says that. My last fight, all the time, ‘No! You have to pressure! Blah! Blah! Blah!’ But I’m not listening, haha! That’s why he gets mad every time! I want to finish him.”
Horiguchi turns 36 in October and while he’s yet to show any signs of slowing down, he also hasn’t faced an explosive power puncher like Kape since he fought … Kape. Unfortunately for the “Karate Kid,” that unrefined version of “Starboy” no longer exists and Kape appears to have finally exorcised his weight demons after transitioning to Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas. I still think Horiguchi can outmaneuver the 32-year-old slugger in most of the striking exchanges, but he won’t be able to exploit Kape’s ground game like he did in 2017. Even worse, Horiguchi has to survive 25 minutes without absorbing one of those Angolan bombs.
Possible, but not plausible.
Prediction: Kape def. Horiguchi by knockout
205 lbs.: Ion Cutelaba vs. Navajo Stirling
Ion “The Hulk” Cutelaba
Record: 20-11-1, 1 NC | Age: 32 | Betting line: +245
Wins: 13 KO/TKO, 4 SUB, 3 DEC | Losses: 3 KO/TKO, 4 SUB, 3 DEC, 1 DQ
Height: 6’1“ | Reach: 75” | Stance: Southpaw
Significant Strikes Landed Per Minute: 4.23 | Striking accuracy: 43%
Strikes Absorbed Per Minute: 3.28 | Striking Defense: 47%
Takedown Average: 3.76 (49% accuracy) | Takedown Defense: 75%
Current Ranking: Unranked | Last fight: Submission win over Oumar Sy
Navajo Stirling
Record: 9-0 | Age: 28 | Betting line: -305
Wins: 5 KO/TKO, 0 SUB, 4 DEC | Losses: 0 KO/TKO, 0 SUB, 0 DEC
Height: 6’4“ | Reach: 79” | Stance: Orthodox
Significant Strikes Landed Per Minute: 6.25 | Striking accuracy: 52%
Strikes Absorbed Per Minute: 2.67 | Striking Defense: 58%
Takedown Average: 0.98 (28% accuracy) | Takedown Defense: 82%
Current Ranking: Unranked | Last fight: Technical knockout win over Bruno Lopes
Ion Cutelaba recently celebrated his 10-year anniversary with the promotion, which started with a submission loss to Misha Cirkunov at UFC Ontario back in June 2016. Lasting 10 years in UFC is no small feat and very few fighters ever come close, so “The Hulk” definitely gets credit for that. At the same time, Cutelaba had a decade of fighting to work his way into the Top 15 rankings and yet still remains unranked at the time of this booking. Probably because his UFC record is 9-10-1 and he’s been finished in seven of those 10 losses. I guess matchmakers keep him around because he’s so easy to book, evidenced by his busy schedule. Cutelaba’s Greco-Roman wrestling background has translated to nearly four takedowns per fight and the Moldovan hits with serious power, he just happens to have a fight I.Q. that ranks up there with the likes of Jiri Prochazka when it comes time to close the show.
That’s not a compliment.
“To be honest, I really like matchups like this because for me, this is a great experience, first of all, and second of all, it’s a chance for me to show that I can still do a thing or two in here,” Cutelaba said at the UFC Vegas 119 media day. “Once in a while, I kind of feel like a college professor, and we got these young students coming in here, and I got to see if they’re gonna pass my test or not, you know? But I can do a thing or two, so I’ll show you what I can do still. The thing is, the professor also learns and also evolves as he goes. So I’m no longer the same person that you’re used to. I also have a lot of experience behind me, but I also have a lot of new skills that I’m acquiring as I go. At the moment, I can tell you that I’ve never felt as good and as ready as I feel right now. I always knew that something was missing, that I can do much more than what I’ve done so far, and whatever that thing that was missing, I think that I have found it. I think I’ve solved the puzzle. And if God gives me health then I can show you that I am actually a very good fighter.”
Navajo Stirling is the latest and greatest striking prospect from City Kickboxing, which is no stranger to UFC champions, having already given us titleholders in Israel Adesanya and Carlos Ulberg. Stirling is long and tall for the division and still just 28 years old, with a perfect 4-0 UFC record after graduating Dana White’s “Contender Series” — by way of second-round knockout — back in late 2024. Stirling’s destruction of Bruno Lopes at UFC Seattle last March prompted the kiwi to call for the Cutelaba bout. More importantly, it reestablished Stirling as a dangerous striker capable of finishing fights at a moment’s notice, something that has been called into question after a string of decision victories. This weekend’s fight will tell us a lot about where Stirling belongs at 205 pounds because Cutelaba will test him with both power and wrestling.
“I credit a lot of my success to just the insights that I’ve been given from, obviously, Israel [Adesanya], Carlos [Ulberg], Eugene [Bareman] and just being able to place my trust in their process that they went through,” Stirling told Sport Nation. “I literally watched Carlos go through a six-year run to the belt so there’s no real rush for me because I’m so good at dealing with the outside noise, injuries and I’m always looking after myself. It’s just given me a chance to fight often, train often and not be pulled out of the game. Time on the mats is just unmatched. [Cutelaba is] a veteran. He’s definitely like a guy that’s out there fraud-checking all the young guns. So I knew if I was the one to get through him, it would kind of surface me above the rest of the prospects in the division. I’m just going to do my talking with the way I perform and I see myself blowing through this guy. People make fun of the way I look or the way I fight or say this and that, but then when I get in front of you and I’m hitting you in the face, everything becomes way different.”
There are a couple of ways this fight can play out. I would not be surprised to see Cutelaba walk through the usual assortment of jabs and teeps to start dropping bombs on Stirling, or to barrel into that long frame and slam him head first into the mat for some Moldovan ground-and-pound. I could also see Stirling playing matador for three rounds, peppering an overly-aggressive Cutelaba who abandons all technique and settles for wild, winging punches in hopes for a one-hitter quitter. Based on how many times we’ve seen Cutelaba lay an egg, it’s hard to pick against the latter.
Prediction: Stirling def. Cutelaba by decision
Don’t forget to check out the rest of the UFC Vegas 119 main card predictions RIGHT HERE.
