Manel Kape doesn’t believe Joshua Van’s flyweight championship victory at UFC 323 was a fluke, and although it’s a legitimate win in his eyes because of the circumstances, Kape still doesn’t know who the better fighter is.
Van defeated Alexandre Pantoja with a first-round injury TKO victory 29 seconds into their co-main event bout after the new champion caught the foot of Pantoja following a high kick. After separation, Pantoja attempted to post his hand on the mat, but wasn’t able to handle the weight
of the impact to the canvas, which caused a nasty injury to the elbow, and possibly shoulder. Pantoja waved the fight off as he was unable to continue, losing his title.
Kape is set for his own massive fight in the main event of UFC Vegas 112 this Saturday against Brandon Royval, and shared his reaction to Van’s title win over Pantoja.
“He didn’t beat Pantoja, it was an accident,” Kape told MMA Fighting. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t find out the better man in that night because Pantoja, it was the accident of work, OK? Because right now, Joshua Van is the man. Fair enough. OK. This happened and the injuries happened.
“That’s one thing I was thinking [when I was talking with my coach]: When I had the injury in July, I was grateful that it happened in training and not in a fight. And right now, these things happened to Pantoja, and at least he was the champion. I was thinking to myself, ‘If this happened to me during a fight, it could be worse, he could be pushed really down.’”
Van won two fights quickly to begin 2025, but in a weird way, Kape created the butterfly effect that changed the entire landscape of the division. After stopping Bruno Silva at UFC 316 in June, Kape—who was scheduled to face Royval three weeks later at UFC 317—suffered an injured foot, which led to the 24-year-old Van stepping in on short notice to win a decision over Royval in a Fight of the Year contender, and earn a title shot.
Kape has finished his past two opponents, and was victorious in six of his past seven appearances. For “Starboy,” the timing of this fight with Royval is not only a chance to send a message to the UFC brass when figuring out the next challenger for Van, but to course-correct recent history.
“So I had the injury, Joshua Van stepped into my place,” Kape explained. “He fought Brandon Royval, I thought Brandon Royval won the fight, but it is what it is. The last knockdown, he spoke more louder than what Joshua Van threw at Brandon Royval.
“But I’m just going to claim what’s mine because he took the opportunity that I gave to him, that my injury forced to give to him, and I’m going to make Brandon Royval look easy on Saturday night. I’m going to style on him and then fight Joshua Van. That’s the things that I have in my mind.”
Kape doesn’t want to take away from what Van accomplished on Saturday. It was because of Van’s sound defensive work that led to the unfortunate ending of the bout. But to say there are still more questions than answers when it comes to the pairing would be an understatement.
“It’s legit, of course,” Kape said. “I’m not taking the flowers from Joshua Van. Of course, it’s a win, it’s legit. He’s the champion. But it was [an] accident. We didn’t find the man. He didn’t beat—that’s the right words—he didn’t beat Pantoja because Pantoja was more aggressive. It started with the fight, but we didn’t find [who] was the better man.
“But he’s legit, he’s the champion. No matter how you win, or how you lost, you lost, and he’s winning, of course. Congrats to him.”
