Manel Kape looked sensational against Asu Almabayev in his first UFC main event, but two moments in the bout drew controversy.
Kape stopped Almabayev and put an end to his opponent’s 17-fight win streak with a third-round TKO in the UFC Vegas 103 headliner Saturday at UFC APEX. It was all Kape from the opening seconds of the fight as he was picking Almabayev apart with fast and powerful shots, using his feints throughout to throw Almabayev off his rhythm.
However, in the second round, and again in the third, replays on the broadcast showed Kape scrape the eye of Almabayev. Referee Mike Beltran—or the replay official—didn’t pause the action, allowing Kape to continue fighting. During the evening’s post-fight press conference, Kape was asked about the eye pokes.
“That’s not my job,” Kape said. “I didn’t see nothing. I think the [referee] should be more attentive. I’ve suffered so [much] stuff in the octagon, so I don’t know. It was clear, for what I’ve seen, it was good, [he] could see me good. If he was not able to fight, if I think he was really stopping, so he was complaining about something, I give him three seconds, and I run back. I just didn’t do anything, so I fight.”
After losing a controversial decision to ex-UFC fighter Muhammad Mokaev at UFC 304, Kape went on to dominate and finish Bruno Silva this past December at UFC Tampa, before putting Almabaev away. “Starboy” believes the victory should earn him a title shot.
In the finishing sequence, Kape had Almabayev hurt, causing him to literally sprint around the octagon trying to avoid further damage. Once the former RIZIN champ saw that, he knew it was curtains for Almabayev.
“Yeah, I smelled the blood,” Kape said. “I just feel like I was too much for him. Like I said before, [he] will not be the same fighter after the second round, and I always, every round, I grow, grow, grow.
“That’s the sequence I was looking for and I knew he was giving his back too much, and I was just calm and [collected] waiting for the time to stop him.”
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