UFC’s decisions, be it matchmaking or fight bookings, have all been quite scrutinized lately. While Dana White & Co. own up to such decisions, citing some reasons, fans often express disappointment over them. And most recently, the upcoming bout between Manel Kape and Kyoji Horiguchi has received the flak. But the announcement has drawn the ire of fans, and the reason is simple.

Both Kape and Horiguchi are arguably two of the standout flyweight contenders who will face each other next. Surely, the fight may turn out to be a potential title eliminator. Hence, the stakes are high. Hence, the stakes are high, and so is the excitement for the bout. But the fight is months away as UFC announced that Kape and Horiguchi will headline UFC Vegas 119 at the Apex on June 20, just a week after the historic UFC White House card.

Although the rest of the UFC Vegas 119 card is yet to be announced, the headliner bout itself holds an intriguing rivalry. For those unaware, Manel Kape and Kyoji Horiguchi once competed in the Rizin Fighting Federation, a standout MMA promotion based in Japan. They not only competed, but they also reigned as champions.

The year was 2017, and both of the current UFC flyweights were bantamweight fighters then. Horiguchi, with more fight experience (21-2), entered the cage to face Kape (11-1). And pretty convincingly, the Japanese took away the victory via a third-round submission. After that, both went their separate ways in the same promotion.

While Horiguchi became the Rizin bantamweight and flyweight champion, and also clinched the Bellator bantamweight championship, Kape went on to win the Rizin bantamweight title as well. Now, these two accomplished fighters have another opportunity to face each other. However, fans are seemingly disappointed with the venue chosen by the UFC for this particular bout.

Fans call out Dana White & Co. over Manel Kape vs. Kyoji Horiguchi fight announcement

From fans online to fighters, several questions have been raised about UFC’s decision. In regard to matchmaking, UFC welterweight champion Islam Makhachev publicly raised his voice against the promotion for snubbing contenders like Arman Tsarukyan of a title opportunity

But here, the case is different. While the matchmaking of Manel Kape vs. Kyoji Horiguchi excites netizens, the Apex facility as the venue is something that is bothering them. “Why are 2 Ex Rizin Champs who can sell out a Stadium in Japan, fighting in the Apex?” a fan commented.

Meanwhile, another fan noted that Dana White & Co. must be busy putting their maximum efforts into the UFC White House card. “Because Dana White, Ike Lawrence Epstein, and Hunter Campbell were too busy making a dogsh*t White House card nobody wanted,” the netizen wrote.

Also, a few jokingly noted that the leading promotion might just dislike Kape. Why is it so? Probably because the Portuguese fighter has 11 cancelled bouts in the UFC. But then again, it’s just a subjective opinion of a netizen. Amid that, another fan felt that the promotion was deliberately making such decisions to poke them. “The UFC is ragebaiting its fans,” the user wrote.

However, for the majority, they felt that White and UFC CBO Hunter Campbell are seemingly overlooking the importance and rivalry of a bout between Kape and Horiguchi. “Because the UFC doesn’t care. Hunter Campbell doesn’t care. Dana White isn’t in the board room, he’s at Zuffa Boxing ruining that program 💀,” a netizen commented.

Interestingly, this fan also particularly highlighted how White has claimed that he does not partake in matchmaking. So, who should be called out for such decisions? Campbell, along with matchmaker Sean Shelby and Mick Maynard, is at the helm of these things. So, will they listen to fans’ uproar over the Kape vs. Horiguchi bout?