Manel Kape let his fists do the talking on Saturday night when he demolished Brandon Royval inside the first round to win the UFC Vegas 112 main event, and now, he’s gunning for gold in his next fight.
A perennial contender since first arriving in the UFC, Kape has often been the victim of bad timing and injuries robbing him of bigger and better opportunities but after dispatching Royval in such impressive fashion, the 33-year-old flyweight doesn’t see any other option but a title shot next. With
new UFC flyweight champion Joshua Van still awaiting his next assignment, Kape believes he’s done more than enough to earn the next crack at the belt and he’s already visualized exactly how that fight plays out.
“This is already in my mind a long time ago,” Kape said about fighting Van during the UFC Vegas 112 post-fight press conference. “I will knock out Joshua Van as well.
“I know they have hands for me. Five rounds, I can take a lot of time. I can take my time. I can shine but if they make a mistake, I will knock him out in the first round. Like I said, I want to play with my food in the first round, and then in the second round, I can do my job. Ain’t going to be different.”
Van became champion at UFC 323 after Alexandre Pantoja suffered a freak injury just seconds into the opening round. While it’s almost a certainty that Pantoja gets an immediate title shot upon his return, he still hasn’t received a full diagnosis on his injuries to know for certain when he’ll be able to compete again.
With Pantoja out of action, Kape is confident that finishing Royval in the first round makes exactly the kind of statement he needed to earn the title fight.
In fact, Kape believes he’s already on Van’s mind, especially after he needed less than five minutes to dispose of an opponent who just went three full rounds with the future flyweight champion back in June.
“He’s scared already,” Kape said about Van. “He knows it’s about to go down. He knows. He didn’t say anything because he knows I’m about to go down. I’m coming hard. 2026, I’m coming very hard. I’m coming with a lot of investments, a lot of sponsors. I’ll be more ready. I’ll be more sharp. I’ll be very focused. I will not have time to distractions in my life.
“I’ll eat, sleep and think about him everyday. Believe me. Everyday. Until I take that gold, I’m going to think about him everyday. He’s going to sleep and dream about me. I’m going to be the worst nightmare he’s going to have in his life.”
It’s hard to argue with Kape and Van putting on a potential Fight of the Year given the way they both typically like to stand and trade but Tatsuro Taira certainly has his own argument for a title shot.
Taira just scored a decisive first-round finish over former flyweight champion Brandon Moreno at UFC 323 and then he sat just few feet away to watch Van claim the 125-pound title with his win over Pantoja.
While Taira might believe he’s in the conversation, Kape is quick to shut down any talk about him as a legitimate title contender over him right now.
“So if someone believes this, they don’t know nothing about math,” Kape said when addressing Taira. “2+2 is not 6 — it’s 4. Brandon Royval just beat Taira. He break him, mental and physical. I beat Brandon Royval in one round. So do the math.
“I don’t know why people talk about Taira. When you see me fight, you see my style. There is no room for my name to be near to him. We are different [people], we are different fighters. I bring excitement. I bring finishes. Ain’t no boring. This guy just knows how to say ‘I’m happy.’ I’m the best investment. I’m the smart investment.”
Nothing has been decided yet but Kape is confident the UFC ultimately makes the right call when it comes to the next flyweight title fight.
Add to that, Kape wants to stay busy and he’s ready to sign on the dotted line to face Van as soon as the UFC decides on a date to put the gold up for grabs.
“The UFC is a smart and intelligent company,” Kape said. “They did the best investments and we have now a very successful company. If they want to be still smart, they have to invest in me.”
“[I want to fight] as soon as possible. I want to have this feeling again. What I’m feeling right now, I want to have these feelings. Because the fight is not over. The celebration is going to be when I have my belt with me. That’s when I’m going to have my celebration. As soon as possible, the UFC wants to book me, I’ll be there, I will show up, I will fight and I will win and I will get the belt.”
