By Safeer MS
The UFC will return to England with a PPV in July and the card recently had the addition of an exciting flyweight matchup between Manel Kape and Muhammad Mokaev. Alexandre Pantoja defended the flyweight title at UFC 301 and revealed he wants a break for some time. Therefore, the victor of Kape vs Mokaev will likely be a number one contender fight.
Muhammad Mokaev in the UFC
Muhammad Mokaev is 6-0 in the UFC with 4 finishes, all via submission. The Dagestan-born Brit is an adept wrestler and an accomplished BJJ grappler. Moreover, he is undefeated in both his amateur and professional MMA career. In his recent fight, Mokaev defeated Alex Perez via unanimous decision in a lackluster fight. The Brit attributed his bad performance to illness but the performance took a title shot away from him. Steve Erceg fought Matt Schnell on the same card and won via knockout, bagging a title shot against Pantoja at UFC 301 which he lost via controversial decision.
Before the Alex Perez fight, Mokaev was on a three-fight finishing streak. He arm-barred Malcolm Gordon at UFC 280, neck-cranked Jafel Filho at UFC 286, and arm-triangle-chocked Tim Elliot. Mokaev had won his UFC debut with a quick guillotine choke finish of Cody Durden at UFC Fight Night 204 followed by a unanimous decision victory over Charles Johnson at UFC Fight Night 208. Nevertheless, Manel Kape is a whole different beast than the fighters he has fought.
Manel Kape in the UFC
Manel Kape lost his first two fights in the UFC, against Alexandre Pantoja and Matheus Nicolau. Kape showed his impressive speed in both fights but did not pull the trigger, losing via decision. However, he is now on a four-fight win streak. Kape was scheduled to rematch Nicolau but missed weight and the fight was pulled off. The Portuguese got into the UFC as the RIZIN bantamweight champion but moved down to flyweight at the insistence of the UFC.
Kape’s victories in the UFC were against Ode' Osbourne, Zhalgas Zhumagulov, David Dvořák, and Felipe dos Santos. None of them are on the level of Mokaev. However, Kape has missed weight before and recently has found trouble with it again. Kape is faster and athletic than his young adversary Mokaev but he should be wary of the Brit’s wrestling and grappling. It’s a three-round fight and thus would be fought at a high pace, common for flyweights. Kape would be favored to win but the Portuguese weight condition might sway the betting odds.
