“Starboy” is out for blood.
Top Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Flyweight Manel Kape returns to action at UFC Tampa this weekend (Sat., Dec. 14, 2024) against knockout artist Bruno Silva, which will go down inside Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.
Kape is coming off a controversial split decision against former UFC fighter Muhammad Mokaev. Mokaev did not get re-signed after the win because of “behind-the-scenes issues.” However, according to Kape, Mokaev’s “dirty” actions during the fight led him to get canned.
“In the second round, I tried to submit him, but he grabbed my shorts,” Kape told reporters during UFC Tampa media day (watch here). “So, Shakespeare says, ‘man is the owner of their fate,’ and he probably changed his fate that night when he grabbed my shorts.”
Kape wasn’t surprised that Mokaev got released after UFC 304.
“He played dirty. He played dirty. He f—ked me up [with the fouls], so why not? It’s fair.”
While Kape has labeled Mokaev a dirty fighter because of his actions during their scrap, “Starboy” says veteran mixed martial arts (MMA) referee Mike Beltran is even worse than Mokaev for letting it happen and not doing anything about it.
“What is even worse is the referee. I don’t think he was a man; it was a b—tch move,” Kape said. “He was looking at him when he grabbed my shorts, and when I dropped my hands to lose the position, Mokaev still grabbed my shorts out of fear because it was one of my favorite submissions, the kneebar. I felt the victory in the moment. If I had gotten the victory, no one would have called the fight boring because I would have finished him.”
“The referee should have taken a point; he didn’t do his job. Mokaev got fired, and one of the other people that should have been fired was the referee, as he didn’t do his job…the referee was the main issue. Listen,” Kape continued. “There was also an issue when I punched Mokaev, and he put a finger in my eye, so I gave my back because it was bad, and the referee didn’t do anything…I felt in that fight that I was a fighter and referee because it was me who stopped the fight multiple times…there were multiple fouls, and I think the UFC should fire him as well. So, it was just Mokaev.”
The referee in question is known for being very loud during fights, like an angry father, but he does not enforce any fouls (just like many other referees in 2024). Unfortunately, it’s very rare for referees to lose their jobs for being bad at their jobs.
Steve Mazzagatti knows about it, though.
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Tampa fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the ESPN2/ESPN+ preliminary card bouts at 7 p.m. ET, followed by the ESPN2/ESPN+ main card start time at 10 p.m. ET.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC Tampa news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archives here and here. For the updated and finalized “Covington vs. Buckley” fight card and ESPN2/ESPN+ line up click here.