Former RIZIN champion, the Angolan naturalized Portuguese Manel kape is seen as one of the big names for the flyweight division (up to 56,7kg) of Ultimate in the future. And, with an incisive style inside and outside the octagon, the athlete is already targeting the Brazilian Deiveson Figueiredo, who competes for the title in the trilogy against Brandon Moreno No. UFC 270, scheduled to take place on January 22nd.
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In an exclusive interview with the SUPER FIGHTS, Kape admits that he frequently analyzes the gaps in Figueiredo's game. For him, the Brazilian only bets on his right hand to knock him out and, when he doesn't succeed, he ends up becoming 'easy prey' for his opponents.
“It’s easy to analyze a game like Deiveson (Figueiredo). He doesn't change much and his game is always the same, with that low hand and, when he is cornered, he feels (the pressure) and appears afraid. I don't think it's a good thing, because if he doesn't get a knockout, he gets really tired. I don't know if it's because of the weight cut, but that's what it shows. His level drops a lot,” said Kape.
With the mission of becoming Ultimate champion in the future, Manel also indicated what his game would be to beat Deiveson in a possible dispute. He called himself the 'heaviest hand' in the category and said he could use wrestling to tire the Brazilian on his feet.
“I don’t think he’s a very intelligent athlete. He is a man on a 'mission', as he has a good right hand and is accurate in what he does. You can see the fight he had in the fight against (Jussier) Formiga, for example. I imagine that, when fighting him, I can do this wrestling game to tire his arm and, as I have the heaviest hand in the category, I can knock him out. I’m not saying it’s an easy fight, but it’s in my favor and I could easily beat him,” he added.
Does Deiveson get the belt back?
Paying attention to the movement of the category, Manel kape analyzed the trilogy between Brandon Moreno e Deiveson Figueiredo, which should happen in UFC 270. According to him, 'Daico' had a problem cutting weight in his last fight and, if he doesn't repeat the same mistakes, he could regain the title.
“I think he gets (the belt) back. In the last fight, he made a basic mistake – perhaps due to the problem with the weight cut – as he was left quite disfigured afterwards. It won’t be easy, but I give him victory”, he concluded.
Number 14 in the flyweight rankings, Manel had four fights in 2021 and had two defeats (Alexandre pantoja and Mateus Nicolau), in addition to two other victories (Ode Osbourne e Zhalgas Zhumagulov). At 28 years old, the Angolan has a record of 17 wins and six losses in professional MMA.
