Manel Kape picks Kai Kara-France to beat 'too reckless, too sloppy' Alexandre Pantoja
Alexandre Pantoja (29-5 MMA, 13-3 UFC) defends his flyweight title against Kai Kara-France (25-11 MMA, 8-4 UFC) in Saturday's co-main event (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Pantoja has looked nearly unstoppable at 125 pounds, having already notched three title defenses over Brandon Royval, Steve Erceg, and most recently a submission of Kai Asakura at UFC 310. But with Kara-France's power, and Pantoja's walk-forward style, Kape (21-7 MMA, 7-3 UFC) thinks the Brazilian will find himself in trouble.
"Honestly, I see a potential win from Kai Kara-France," Kape told Inside Fighting. "I'm not going to lie. Pantoja is a great fighter, he's a great champion. I just see his game is getting too reckless, too sloppy, and I see the game of Kai Kara-France more composed. He has some power in his right hand.
"I'm not saying he can knock down Pantoja. He has that power, but Pantoja is tough. But, I don't believe Pantoja takes him down, too. Kai Kara-France has been facing better grapplers than Pantoja like (Rogerio) Bontorin, Askar Askarov. So, that's my point. Unfortunately, my odds go to Kai Kara-France. That's my read on the fight."
Kape, who's coming off a TKO of Asu Almabayev in the UFC Fight Night 253 headliner in March, has been eager to settle things with Kara-France after the pair have been beefing for almost two years now. Their back-and-forth stems from Kara-France withdrawing from their UFC 293 matchup, and Kape thinks their fight could finally be rebooked after UFC 317.
"After this fight, we can run back me and Kai Kara-France," Kape said. "He's been saying a couple of things in interviews. He's getting that confidence because I'm not close to him."
Kape was scheduled to compete at UFC 317 against Brandon Royval, but was replaced by Joshua Van after breaking his foot.
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