Israel Adesanya reacts to Manel Kape diss at UFC Tampa
Israel Adesanya found out there’s still bad blood between him and Manel Kape.
The two-time UFC middleweight champion was watching UFC Tampa on Saturday and was impressed by Kape’s stylish win over Bruno “Bulldog” Silva on the evening’s main card. However, he was caught off guard when Kape mentioned him in his post-fight speech.
Kape ran down his fellow flyweights to declare himself the No. 1 contender for champion Alexandre Pantoja, and threw in an insult at Adesanya for good measure. Though they compete in different divisions, Kape and Adesanya have beef dating back to September 2023, when Adesanya stepped in to argue with Kape on behalf of teammate Kai Kara-France.
In a video posted to his YouTube channel, Adesanya recorded his live reaction to Kape’s callout.
“What he say ‘F*ck me’ for?” Adesanya said, with a laugh. “I give this guy all this credit, like he’s looking nice, and he said, ‘F*ck you.’
“I still keep it real, he f*cking showed out. This shows I’ve been in his head this whole time, I didn’t think it was like that. But he did well, good job.”
Prior to hearing what Kape had to say, Adesanya was entertained by the flyweight striker’s performance. Silva had no answers for the speedy Kape, who snapped Silva’s four-fight win streak with a knockout in Round 3.
Even Adesanya had to admit that Kape put on a show-stealing performance.
“I don’t like the piece of shit, but you can respect the skills,” Adesanya said. “He’s on right now.”
Adesanya also appreciated Kape doing a mid-fight taunt, similar to the Naruto homage Adesanya displayed during his fight with Anderson Silva at UFC 234.
“He did my steez, the ‘Rock Lee,’” Adesanya said. “He’s f*cking showing out.”