Top UFC light heavyweight explains why Kai Kara-France would be feeling "pretty good" despite Manel Kape's win at UFC 293
A top UFC light heavyweight contender weighed on Manel Kape's win at UFC 293 and explained why Kai Kara-France isn't necessarily upset about the result.
During a recent episode of the Believe You Me podcast, Anthony Smith shared his thoughts on the exciting flyweight bout that took place this past weekend and what's next. He mentioned that Kara-France should be happy, especially considering that his fighting style would match up well with Manel Kape.
He said:
"If you're Kai Kara-France and that's your next fight or something, you probably feel pretty good about that, especially with Kai being a striker himself. Manel did get hit a lot...It kind of put himself in the fire, maybe that's because he felt comfortable he could take those shots after feeling him a little bit." [56:14 - 56:32]
'Lionheart' also brought up that he would be excited as a fan because of the animosity that was on display between the flyweights during the pre-fight press conference. He mentioned that as a result of their recent exchange during the press conference, Manel Kape vs. Kai Kara-France becomes more intriguing, saying:
"Those guys going back-and-forth, I wanna see that fight just because of the hate that they have for each other." [56:34 - 56:39]
It will be interesting to see how soon the UFC matchmakers book the flyweight grudge match as they certainly can capitalize on the animosity between them.
Check out the full episode:
What happened between Manel Kape and Kai Kara-France at the UFC 293 pre-fight press conference
Fans saw a chaotic scene at the UFC 293 pre-fight press conference as Manel Kape got into a back-and-forth exchange with flyweight contender Kai Kara-France and even former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.
'StarBoy' was upset that 'Don't Blink' was present at the press conference and questioned the legitimacy of his injury, which forced him to withdraw from their scheduled fight. He then threw a bottle toward Kara-France and proceeded to argue with Adesanya after the former middleweight champion took offense and stood up for his teammate.
Fortunately for the promotion, Tai Tuivasa was sitting between them and cooler heads prevailed before it could escalate any further.
Check out the full press conference [incident takes place at 9:24 mark]: