Manel Kape breaks silence on allegations of attacking UFC 304 opponent Muhammad Mokaev at UFC PI
Manel Kape recently opened up about allegations of attacking UFC 304 opponent Muhammad Moakev at UFC PI. As per Kape's statement, Moakev was not beaten by him, rather, it was staged to build anticipation for their upcoming bout.
During an interview with AG Fight in early July, Kape's training partner Jean Silva claimed that following some online trash talk, 'Star Boy' and Mokaev got into a physical altercation where the former bloodied up the Russian-born Englishman at the UFC Performance Institute (PI) months ago. He said:
''Manel Kape hit Mokaev here outside the gym a while ago. He elbowed Mokaev in the head on the street bro. Bro, he caught Mokaev at the entrance here to the [UFC] PI. He headbutted him and elbowed him in the street. He opened Mokaev’s head a week before his fight. He’s a psychopath, and I was going to spar with him that day.''
Check out Jean Silva's comments below:
However, in a recent interview with MMA Fighting, Kape refuted that he had physically assaulted Mokaev, claiming that Silva had done so to promote his fight with the rising contender at UFC 304.
''Nothing happened. It was just Jean. I have a Brazilian friend, he made this story [up] just to spice up the fight. He knows I’m going to fight Mokaev and we tweeted before in the past badly with each other, this was public. We never hid this from anyone. This was public.”
He added:
''Mokaev is in Dagestan or England, and I’m in Vegas. We did not have any fight. People like to buy this fan story. This is the story. By the way, Jean is a good promoter. He’s a good seller at the end of the day. This makes the fight more exciting.'' [H/t: MMA Fighting]
Manel Kape eyes title shot following UFC 304
The stakes for the Manel Kape vs. Muhammad Mokaev clash are very high as all indicators lead to the winner getting the next crack at challenging UFC flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja.
Kape, who has been waiting for a title shot for some months, is confident of getting one if he wins at UFC 304. In the aforementioned interview, he stated:
''Even when I was supposed to fight Matheus Nicolau in April, I should have fought Pantoja if I [beat] Matheus Nicolau. The fight [Steve] Erceg got [at UFC 301] was my opportunity. This is the second time, the opportunity for the belt, so I just have to step in the cage and win.”