Manel Kape didn’t want to wait until Manchester to get his hands on Muhammad Mokaev.
Though ‘Starboy’ has only fought twice in the last two years — some of that being his fault, some of it not — Kape is still the No. 8 ranked contender in the flyweight division. If he can bag a big win over the undefeated ‘Punisher’ at UFC 304 on July 27, he’ll likely be next in line for a shot at reigning 125-pound titleholder Alexandre Pantoja.
As it turns out, ‘Starboy’ got things started early with Mokaev during a recent run-in at the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas. That comes according to Kape’s teammate Jean Silva who dished all the details during a recent interview.
“Manel Kape hit Mokaev here outside the gym a while ago,” Silva told Ag Fight. He elbowed Mokaev in the head on the street bro. Bro, he caught Mokaev at the entrance here to the [UFC] PI, he headbutted him and elbowed him, in the street. He opened Mokaev’s head a week before his fight. He’s [Kape] a psychopath.”
Jean Silva tells the story of how Manel Kape and Muhammad Mokaev got into a fight at the UFC Performance Institute
"Bro, [Kape] caught Mokaev at the entrance to the PI. He headbutted and elbowed him. In the street. He opened Mokaev's head a week before his fight."
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) July 3, 2024
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Manel Kape allegedly headbutted and elbowed Mokaev ahead of their UFC 304 encounter
Silva made his sophomore appearance for the promotion at UFC 303 on Saturday night, securing a knockout over Charles Jourdain in the second round. With the win, ‘Lord Assassin’ is now 2-0 inside the Octagon and is sitting on a 10-fight win streak dating back to 2018.
“The Russians here, bro, they didn’t even help, they just watched Mokaev take a d***, then Mokaev said, ‘I’m going to catch you’, he said he was going to slap Kape in the face,” Silva added. “Then [Kape] saw Mokaev and Mokaev wanted to apologize, and [Kape] said, ‘Apologies won’t be accepted, now you’ll have to do it’.
“Then Mokaev took a step back. When I went down and opened the second door, [Kape] arrived and headbutted Mokaev and elbowed him. Mokaev fell down to the ground then the Russians just watched” (h/t Bloody Elbow).
Though Mokaev didn’t appear to retaliate, he only has a few short weeks before he’ll have the chance to hand Kape his receipt when the two tussle in Rainy City.
