Kai Kara-France and Manel Kape have been on a collision course for quite some time, but Kara-France is not surprised Kape isn’t competing this Saturday at UFC 317.
“Don’t Blink” challenges Alexandre Pantoja for the flyweight title in the main event of this weekend’s International Fight Week pay-per-view event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Kape was slated to face Brandon Royval in a massive divisional clash, but an injury scratched Kape from the bout.
Of course, Kara-France is focused on becoming a world champion, but he reacted to Kape’s withdrawal ahead of the card.
“This is typical Manel Kape behavior,” Kara-France told MMA Fighting. “He just can’t help himself. He’s always saying something on Twitter, or online, and a few days later, he pulls out of a fight. I saw his post about Royval saying, ‘Yeah, around this time, my opponents usually pull out because they get scared and nervous,’ And then, I guess, karma.”
The two were set to meet at UFC 293 in September 2023, but Kara-France withdrew due to a concussion. Since then, Kape continues to fire shots Kara-France’s way every chance he gets — either on social media, or a post-fight interview.
The 32-year-old is well aware of the constant trash talk, and while he respects Kape’s in-cage skills, Kara-France says the respect stops there.
“I don’t know, it’s just his energy, it’s just off,” Kara-France explained. “He feels like he has this entitlement — like it’s his show and it’s his world and we’re all just living in it. But a reality check is you’ve been canceled 11 times in the UFC. That’s unheard of. Maybe he needs to go get a reset, because, obviously, things aren’t working out.
“I know what the UFC wants to do: They want me to win this belt and then set that fight up [with] me and Manel because everyone knows that we don’t like each other. This guy’s an idiot. He’s a clown. He’s just really insecure. That’s what I see.
“He has a skill set. He is talented, but he can’t help himself. I feel like that’s his biggest downfall, he’s just got no discipline. There’s no respect for anyone, and it’s not going to get you far in life. So he needs a bit of a humbling, a bit of humble pie. I’d love to give it to him, but you’re going to have to pay me to do it, and he’s going to have to work his way back to a title fight. I don’t think the UFC [is] going to give it to him [after] pulling out of this fight, a No. 1 contender fight against Royval.”
With Kape out, surging contender Joshua Van is stepping in to face Royval in his second pay-per-view fight of the month. Van enters the biggest fight of his career on a four-fight win streak, including a third-round stoppage win against Bruno Silva less than three weeks ago at UFC 316.
If Kara-France becomes champion, he won’t be looking at Kape as his first challenger, but his sights will be set on the winner of the pivotal flyweight clash the precedes his championship bout.
“Now, Joshua Van stepped in, [he’s a] talented kid,” Kara- France said. “This guy’s doing really well for his age and doing all the right things, fighting actively, stepping up when the UFC calls him. They love that. So he’s going to get rewarded, and he’s got a big test in front of him against Brandon Royval.
“He’s definitely one of the best guys in our division, exciting, but yeah, I won’t be watching that fight. I’ll be warming up because I think it’s a few fights before me, but I’ll definitely be taking notes on who’s the winner.”
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