Manel Kape has sent a bold message to Joshua Van after the flyweight champion’s UFC 331 title defense, hinting at a potential showdown between the two.
Top Flyweight contender Manel Kape, who could be the next challenge for Joshua Van, has sent a message to Van following his impressive victory at UFC 331 to defend his 125-pound title.
Manel Kape sends warning to Joshua Van after UFC 331 title defense
Joshua Van put his title on the line for the second time against the man he dethroned to become the flyweight champion, Alexandre Pantoja. They squared off in the headliner of UFC 331, which went down on September 19 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California.
In the five-round, grueling back-and-forth war, Van secured a unanimous decision victory to retain the title. Following that, in the press conference, he was asked whether Kape could be next after ‘Starboy’s impressive recent win, with the reporter also pointing to their back-and-forth feud on social media.
Van emphasized that he is not interested in choosing his next opponent and is willing to fight whoever the UFC puts in front of him.
“Whoever, whoever can get it. You know, I’m the fearless, and I never pick and choose who I fight,” Van saim. “So, Dana, Hunter, whoever you all want in front of me, call me.”
The clip of Van from the press conference, reshared on X by MMA Fighting, caught Kape’s attention. He quickly responded by suggesting that a fight against the champion would be exactly the kind of matchup he wants.
“The perfect style for me to paint a masterpiece,” Kape wrote on X.
Check out Manel Kape’s X post below:
Kape is widely expected to challenge the flyweight champion next to settle their ongoing beef. He has long been in the title mix and, with his recent knockout win over Kyoji Horiguchi in June, has probably cemented himself as next in line for the title shot.
The matchup could not be more intriguing. Kape is on an insane run, having knocked out his last four opponents, and while Van has silenced his doubters and shown why he is the champion with his impressive performance at UFC 331 against arguably one of the best flyweights of all time, Pantoja.
However, Van revealed after his UFC 331 win that he had faced a major setback during his training camp that could affect his return to the octagon.
Joshua Van opens up about injury that limited his UFC 331 camp
In the post presser, Van was asked about his potential return timeline. He expressed skepticism and shared that he suffered a shoulder injury in the lead-up to UFC 331 and was only able to spar for two weeks.
“I don’t know, coming into this fight, after the press conference at Philly, I tore my AC joint in my right shoulder, and I couldn’t even spar. So the last two weeks were my first time sparring . In this camp, we did nothing but cardio; just running and stuff like that,” Van said.