Kape is apparently still heated towards Adesanya after the two had a verbal altercation back in September 2023.
Israel Adesanya was just sitting at home in New Zealand enjoying UFC Tampa on a Sunday afternoon when he got called out by flyweight fighter Manel Kape.
Kape had just finished dismantling and TKOing Bruno Silva over three rounds (watch the finish here), and after the win he had a few things to say … some of it directed towards his old enemies at City Kickboxing.
“I know we’re on ESPN, I will not say a bad word,” Kape started. “But f— Kai Kara France, f— Moreno, f— Adesanya, and I’m next against Alexandre Pantoja. There are levels to this s—, and I’m the one that’s gonna destroy Pantoja.”
A new video on Adesanya’s YouTube channel shows Izzy the moment Kape called him out. Watching the fight, “Stylebender” had nothing but positive things to say about Kape’s performance.
“Why’s he saying f— me for?” Adesanya said around a mouthful of food. “Man, I give this guy all this credit, say he’s lookin’ nice, and he said ‘f— you!’ I’ll still keep it real, though. He f—ing showed up.”
Kape and Adesanya’s beef goes back to UFC 293 where Izzy got into it with Kape at the public press conference after “Starboy” criticized teammate Kai Kara-France over a fight withdrawal. Since then, Kape has said he’d wipe the streets with Adesanya’s tall skinny corpse.
“It just shows I’ve been in his head this whole time,” Adesanya said, chuckling. “I didn’t even think it was like that. But he did well. Good job. Lil b—h ass n—a.”