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Manel Kape demands title shot after dominant victory in UFC Fight Night main event

"Starboy" put on a striking clinic in Las Vegas.
Drew Beaupre|
(Zuffa LLC)

Top-ranked flyweight contenders Manel Kape and Asu Almabayev met in a UFC Fight Night main event in Las Vegas on Saturday.

Kape Dominates Asumabayev, Calls For Title Shot

Orginally scheduled to face former title challenger Brandon Royval before "Raw Dawg" suffered an injury, Kape came into UFC Vegas 103 after stopping Bruno Silva with strikes in December.

UFC Fight Night live results & highlights for Manel Kape vs. Asu Almabayev

The victory got Kape back on track after Muhammad Mokaev ended his four-fight win streak when the pair met at UFC 304, but instead of getting a chance to vault into title contention against Royval the 31-year-old found himself defending his #6 ranking against the division's #8-ranked contender in Las Vegas.

Asumabayev was booked to meet both Steve Erceg and Allan Nascimento at UFC Vegas 103 before stepping in to meet Kape for his fifth Octagon outing, and the 31-year-old carried an impressive 17-fight win streak into the matchup.

Kape ate a few counter shots from his opponent but did some significant damage with his punches during the opening round, and while Almabayev found more success on the feet in the second round he was still unable to bring things to his preferred arena on the mat.

Fighter scores Israel Adesanya-esque KO at UFC Fight Night vs. undefeated opponent

"Starboy" started to really open up in the third round, and while Almabayev tried to call for a timeout when he appeared to get poked in the eye a second time the action continued until Kape chased his opponent down with punches to secure a TKO victory.

Never shy about speaking his mind, Kape immediately got on the microphone after the win and demanded a shot at the UFC flyweight title.

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Drew Beaupre
DREW BEAUPRE

Drew is an MMA writer that regularly watches regional events in addition to major promotions such as the UFC, PFL, Bellator, and ONE Championship. He joined MMA Knockout when it was founded in 2023.

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