Manel Kape: Kai Kara-France is ‘a little bit of a b*tch’ but stylistically he could give Alexandre Pantoja problems

Manel Kape wasn’t totally surprised when his call for a title shot went unanswered, and the UFC placed him into a different fight instead.

Following a stunning performance to shut down and eventually finish Bruno Silva this past December, Kape was hopeful that perhaps he could slot into an opening against reigning flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja, who didn’t have a true No. 1 contender awaiting him after beating newcomer Kai Asakura at UFC 310. Instead, Kape now faces Asu Almabayev in a main event after Brandon Royval was knocked out of their fight with a concussion suffered in training.

Regardless of how it all played out, Kape didn’t mind getting booked for another fight while all signs are pointing towards Pantoja taking on perennial flyweight contender Kai Kara-France in his next title defense.

“I don’t feel anything,” Kape told MMA Fighting about the flyweight title picture. “I think it’s a good match. I think [Pantoja] should fight Kai Kara-France.”

Of course, Kape’s feelings towards Kara-France are no secret after they were supposed to clash back in 2023, but the New Zealand native pulled out of the fight just weeks before the event was scheduled to take place. Ever since then, Kape rarely misses an opportunity to take aim at Kara-France and he even caught a stray during a fiery post-fight interview after the former RIZIN champion won his most recent outing against Silva.

That said, Kape may not like him very much personally but that doesn’t negate his brutal honesty when it comes to a potential matchup pitting Kara-France against Pantoja in a UFC title fight.

“Kai Kara-France, I believe he has the style to match up with Pantoja,” Kape said. “I’m going to be honest, he has the style. He’s a little bit of a bitch but he has the style, he can do something different than other fighters didn’t do.

“He’s very emotional. I believe this is the part that Pantoja is going to take advantage. But in terms of skills, he has more skills than Pantoja on striking and standup but Pantoja is well-rounded and very experienced. It’s actually a good fight.”

While nothing has been announced yet, Kape expects Pantoja vs. Kara-France to happen sooner than later and the timing could work out perfectly for him to face the winner later this year.

Assuming all goes well against Almabayev on March 1, Kape will spend the rest of the money observing Ramadan and then he’ll turn his full attention to a flyweight title shot.

“This is finally the year [I become champion],” Kape said. “I believe so. I really believe. I’m in good shape, I’ve been very good in training. Very good in my sparring.

“I’m going to put on a show, another highlight and then get the title, wait for the winner [of Pantoja vs. Kara-France], that’s the future that I see. Only God knows everything and we will see what’s going to happen.”