Regardless of the meat between them, Manel Kape couldn’t assist however really feel unhealthy for Israel Adesanya after the previous two-time titleholder suffered his third straight loss contained in the Octagon.
Reacting to Adesanya’s loss, Kape admitted throughout a latest interview with former flyweight nice Demetrious Johnson that he felt sorry for the middleweight icon.
🚨| Manel Kape speaks on Israel Adesanya’s latest defeat to Nassourdine Imavov. 👀
“I’m unhappy about Izzy’s final combat. I’m actually unhappy. We’ve got the meat however he’s a legend…
“He was beating [Imavov], he was successful the combat… I used to be unhappy as a result of whenever you see a legend like him… pic.twitter.com/bt1YsxN5oJ
— MMA Orbit (@mma_orbit) February 26, 2025
“I’m sad about Izzy,” Kape mentioned. “His last fight. I’m really sad. We had the beef but he’s a legend, you know. He was beating this guy, you know. He was winning the fight. I was sad, you know. I was sad because you see a legend like him falling down that way is pretty sad, you know. I never wish anything for any man. Stepping in the cage and have the results he had, it’s pretty sad.”
Manel Kape’s feud with Adesanya goes again to a 2023 encounter with Kai Kara-France
Kape’s phrases are particularly stunning since there’s been some animosity between him and Adesanya courting again to an incident in September 2023 when the ‘Stylebender’ stepped in to argue with Kape on behalf of his Metropolis Kickboxing teammate Kai Kara-France.
The argument got here to be when Kara-France pulled out of a combat with Kape at UFC 293. Defending his pal, Adesanya referred to as Kape a “midget” and threatened to bury him.
Shortly after Kape claimed that Adesanya had tried to apologize for the incident, however ‘Starboy’ wasn’t having it.
“After all this talk [at the press conference], he came to me backstage ‘Hey, no disrespect, we are Africa, we’re brothers,’” Kape advised MMA Preventing after the incident. “I said, ‘We are not brothers. Look, my problem is with Kai Kara, not with you. Why did you stand up? He can handle his business.’”
They could by no means be buddies, however no less than there appears to be some mutual respect between the 2 UFC stars.
Kape shall be again in motion this Saturday for a Struggle Night time card inside The APEX. ‘Starboy’ will headline the night’s festivities with a high-stakes flyweight conflict towards 21-win veteran Asu Almabayev.
