No. 2-ranked flyweight contender Manel Kape claims he was waiting for current champion Joshua Van to sign a contract to defend his 125-pound title on March 7, but “Fearless” was either too fearful to put pen to paper — or ran out of ink (it happens).
Shortly after that online interaction, UFC booked Van against No. 3-ranked Tatsuro Taira.
“I like Manel, you know what I mean? He’s a good guy, it’s just that he lied too much, so I just want to put it out there,” Van told MMA Junkie Radio. “I don’t hate
no fighters or nothing. I like the guy, I respect him. He’s been in the game a long time, so I respect what he brings to the table, but in case of getting this fight and all this stuff he lied about, I just want to put it out there, that’s all.”
Kape will instead rematch Kyoji Horiguchi at UFC Vegas 119 in June.
“He tried to act like I’m the one that didn’t want the fight and this and that, you know what I mean? Even when they first offered and stuff like that,” Van added. “He tried to turn it around on me and this and that. It’s stupid, man. If you don’t want to fight, just say you need more time or something. I don’t like the fact that he’s going around and saying all these things on Twitter or whatever.”
Mr. Henry Rollins … if you would, please.
Kape (22-7) has won seven of his last eight and would certainly qualify for a division title shot; however, UFC matchmakers have been known to hold grudges against fighters with reliability issues. Even if “Starboy” manages to avenge his loss to Horiguchi, he still needs to leapfrog this returning ex-champion.
