Manel Kape has potentially had one of the strangest UFC careers of anyone in recent memory. Joining the organization with a lot of hype back in 2020, Kape’s career hasn’t exactly gone to plan. For those interested in the peculiar count, Kape has 10 canceled fights, with 8 fights having happened. The top flyweight fighter was rumoured to go against Joshua Van in a co-main event at YFC 326 in March. But, according to Kape, he was about to be in the main event before Hunter Campbell decided to grant that place to rising contender Tatsuro Taira.

In a now-deleted post, Kape wrote that he has decided to continue fighting and not sit on his rank, and wait for a title fight. He plans to take the risk of fighting other fighters, even if it drops his rank, asking for a fight, not necessarily for the title, in May or June.

Manel Kape calls ‘fake news’ on Joshua Van fight, reveals scrapped bout and weight cut frustration

“Fake news. I am not fighting my ‘son’ Joshua Van,” wrote Manel Kape. “My team and I have been pushing for this fight since my last one. However, according to the UFC, they had already promised the title shot to Tatsuro Taira after he defeated Brandon Royval. (Kape meant Moreno).”

As Dana White’s recent testimony in the antitrust lawsuit this month, Hunter Campbell, who is the Chief Business Officer and Matchmaker of the UFC, makes all the decisions in the MMA promotion. It implies he promised Taira a title shot after his victory at UFC 323.

With that said, Kape had started his camp and weight cut, as he mentioned that the UFC informed him about a strong possibility of a flyweight title match featuring him on March 7. However, given the shortage of time to set the fight, Campbell and co. decided to move forward as per Kape.

But, well, the real frustration came out in the deleted post of Kape, where he wrote:  “I’m not like most fighters. I’m also not some coward who just sits on his ranking. I want another fight in May or June. Because that’s what’s going to lead to the biggest contract renewal in this division.”

Kape was last seen scoring a first-round knockout over former title challenger Brandon Royval. The 32-year-old is now on a three-fight win streak. Taira, meanwhile, is 4-1 in his last five, most recently scoring a second-round TKO over former champion Brandon Moreno.

Joshua Van appears to question Manel Kape’s narrative over alleged title shot snub

Manel Kape’s allegations were shrugged off by reigning flyweight champion Joshua Van, who believes that Kape was the one who turned down the title shot against him.

In a recent interview with MMA Junkie, when Van was asked about his thoughts on Kape, he said: “Is [Kape] really [trying to fight me]?. Because the last time I checked, I don’t know who said no, but you know.”

When Joshua was pressed further about the incident by the host, he smirked and said, “Ask Him.”

At UFC 323, Van became champion by injury TKO in just 26 seconds when Alexandre Pantoja suffered an arm injury, extending his own streak to six. Getting to see Kape with Van would have been thrilling, as the fight with Pantoja was kind of a lucky streak for Joshua Van.