Manel Kape expects to face new UFC flyweight champion Joshua Van next, but he’s not looking to win the title and a Fight of the Night bonus.
Instead, after dispatching Brandon Royval with a first-round knockout at the final UFC event in 2025, the veteran 125-pounder promises more of the same if he’s granted his wish to get the first crack at Van. Of course, Van won the title after a freak injury took out Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 323, but with the Brazilian sidelined for an undetermined amount of time, the division needs to move forward.
That’s where Kape comes in, and he vows to end Van’s reign as champion before it ever really begins.
“I see Joshua Van as a punching bag,” Kape told MMA Fighting. “To be honest, I see Joshua Van as a punching bag. For my fight, I think I only have to go to the gym and punch the bag. That’s the fight that I’m going to have. A hard punching bag. What I’m going to land, whatever I want. Of course, this punching bag is going to throw something but I’m going to avoid.
“Even Brandon Royval, this is a guy with a lot of volume, a lot of speed — he didn’t throw anything on me. It ain’t going to be Joshua Van is going to land anything. I’m going to avoid all his punches. I’m going to beat my punching bag. That’s the fight it’s going to be. That’s the title in the news. Joshua Van is going to be the punching bag of Manel Kape.”
There are a lot of reasons why Kape has so much confidence that he’s going to draw Van next but one of the bigger factors comes down to the old adage about how styles make fights.
Van is best known as being a dynamic striker, and the same goes for Kape, who has scored three knockouts in a row to put himself in title contention. Kape knows that putting him in the octagon against Van is guaranteed fireworks, although he doesn’t expect the fight to play out like some kind of war where both fighters walk away bloodied and bruised.
“Yes, it’s going to be a banger but with beautiful violence,” Kape explained. “It’s not going to be a brawl like he did with Brandon Royval. Of course for the fans it was good and everything in all aspects, the brawl and punching in the face but this was a very dumb fight. They showed a lot of holes in their game. They get hurt for nonsense.
“Yes, it’s going to be a banger of a fight, but it’s going to be a banger, because I’m going to destroy him. I’m going to punch the bag. It’s going to be terrific. When we get to the fight, people don’t understand, it will be the same way as Brandon Royval. People always think it’s going to be a competitive fight. No, it’s not going to be a competitive fight.”
Kape is so confident in the results that he believes the UFC matchmakers might actually regret putting him in there with Van when it’s over.
Maybe that’s a mix of bravado and fight promotion talking but Kape just doesn’t see how Van survives for five rounds with him.
“The matchmakers when they see me fight against Joshua Van, they’ll think what [did we do?]. We threw this kid to hell,” Kape said. “It’s not going to be a competitive fight. For who thinks it’s going to be a competitive fight, it ain’t going to be a competitive fight. I’m going to destroy him and badly.
“The competition is going to be a tremendous difference of levels and that’s what’s going to happen.”
As far as timing goes, Kape immediately suggested a February date in Houston, which would give Van the hometown advantage since he lives and trains there but really he just wants to book the title fight sooner than later.
Even with Ramadan coming up in February, Kape isn’t backing down from his request to fight Van within the first few months of 2026. He says all the UFC has to do is pick the date and send the contract.
“Let’s go March 8 [at UFC 326],” Kape said. “That’s the date. But I don’t mind to fight in Houston. I don’t mind to be a title [fight] co-main event. I know this doesn’t happen but I don’t mind this. For me, all that matters for me is fighting for the belt. If it’s a co-main event, a main event, it’s going to be beautiful. UFC can change, put [Sean] Strickland in the co-main event [for his fight with Anthony ‘Fluffy’ Hernandez] and me as the main event in Houston.
“It’s going to be beautiful. It’s not something they cannot change. They can change. February looks beautiful to me.”
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