Just days after the two UFC stars clashed on social media, Manel Kape has assured that no bad blood between him and Sean Strickland will stop him from training at the same Xtreme Couture gym in Las Vegas.
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The feud between the two has been bubbling ever since reports surfaced of an alleged brawl between Xtreme Couture head coach Eric Nicksick and Kape’s manager Ali Abdelaziz at the Meta Apex last week. Despite the bad blood between the two and their teams, the flyweight contender has now dismissed all the concerns about his online back-and-forth with ‘Tarzan’ turning physical if and when they run into each other.
“There is nothing,” Kape told MMA Fighting. “Some people just talk a lot, and we have to put people in their place. It doesn’t matter what weight class. Some people we have to show who’s the true people. Who is the bully and who is not the bully. People confuse sometimes weight with confidence. It’s nothing.”
According to Manel Kape, the reigning middleweight kingpin’s online personality is actually very different from how he acts in person.
“He wants attention,” he said. “He loves attention. This kind of stuff. We’re built different.
“We’re built different and some people deserves some answers that put them in their place. That’s what I want to say. But we’re all good. We’re all men. We all handle the things we should handle. Our way.”
In fact, despite everything that was said online, the 32-year-old doesn’t expect any awkward moments if they bump into each other again.
Manel Kape isn’t worried about crossing paths with Sean Strickland after a fiery war of words on social media: "We’ll see if it’s awkward. Some people [talk] online. Others are good in real life. We’re good. [This is] not the first time." (🎥 @DamonMartin)
“We can cross [paths],” he added. “We’re the same city, same gyms, and everything. So we’ve crossed [paths].
“Believe me, I’m so confident in myself. We’ll see if it’s awkward. Some people [talk] online. Others are good in real life. We’re good. [This is] not the first time.”
For those who are unaware, the feud between the two teammates kicked off when ‘Tarzan’ took aim at Kape’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, on X. And as expected, Manel Kape swiftly responded with a jibe at Sean Strickland’s tough-guy persona.
“Sean, it’s funny how tough you act online when you’re quiet face to face,” he wrote on X. “You had the chance to say all that to him in person, but you said nothing.
“Next time, keep my friend’s name out of your mouth b—– cuz you know how b—- you are b—-.”
Strickland immediately fought back and responded by criticizing Kape for his earlier PED issues. In fact, he even implied that ‘Starboy’ had taken performance-enhancing drugs. The insults escalated from there, even though the two UFC stars train under Eric Nicksick at Xtreme Couture gym. While the two continued trading barbs online, reports revealed what happened backstage at the Meta Apex that prompted the teammates to go after each other so publicly.
The backstage altercation that sparked the feud between Manel Kape and Sean Strickland
According to TheStarched on X, the altercation that happened backstage at last weekend’s UFC Fight Night event in Las Vegas involved Ali Abdelaziz punching—or attempting to punch—Xtreme Couture head coach Eric Nicksick.
“The buzz on the street of why @SStricklandMMA and @ManelKape are having a beef is because Eric Nicksick ‘allegedly’ got punched in the face by Ali [Abdelaziz] at the META Apex Saturday, post-fight, backstage,” TheStarched wrote on X.
Combat sports insider Blake “Axe” Avignon provided a similar account.
“@AliAbdelaziz00 tried to swing on Coach Nicksick, missed, and both were separated and removed from the backstage area,” Avignon wrote on X. “Everybody should be reaching out to Lenee & Nobie to get @UFC’s response on why they allow managers to conduct themselves like this backstage.”
None of the people allegedly involved, nor the UFC, has responded publicly to the reports yet. Nonetheless, the timeline has led many fans to connect the dots.
Manel Kape headlined the card against Kyoji Horiguchi, so Abdelaziz was most likely backstage backing his fighter, while Nicksick was also at the event supporting his fighter. It would also explain why Sean Strickland has recently targeted other fighters managed by Abdelaziz rather than focusing solely on ‘Starboy.’
The middleweight champion has traded verbal jibes with Justin Gaethje in the lead-up to UFC Freedom 250, right before continuing to criticize both ‘The Highlight’ and Abdelaziz for being at the event. He then shifted his focus to former welterweight champion Belal Muhammad, another fighter managed by Ali Abdelaziz.
Interestingly, this isn’t Manel Kape’s first heated encounter with a UFC middleweight either. Back at the UFC 293 press conference, he got into a heated argument with then-middleweight champion Israel Adesanya while defending his teammate Kai Kara-France.
However, that confrontation never turned physical, and the 32-year-old expects this one to be the same way. As he said in the interview, ‘Starboy’ is not looking for trouble, but he isn’t intimidated simply because Sean Strickland is the physically bigger man. And anyhow, the two are unlikely to meet right away.
Manel Kape is taking a break after his knockout win over Horiguchi, while Strickland has been helping his friend Johnny Eblen for his upcoming PFL title fight at American Top Team in Florida.