"Little midget trying to f**k with me!" - Israel Adesanya and Manel Kape square up at UFC 293 press conference

UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and flyweight contender Manel Kape got into a heated exchange at UFC 293's press conference.

Kape is set to face newcomer Felipe dos Santos this weekend after Kai Kara-France withdrew from the bout after suffering a concussion in training. Despite being unable to fight, 'Don't Blink' was in the front row for the presser, which prompted 'Star Boy' to hurl insults towards him.

Addressing Kara-France, Kape said:

"There's a f*cking b*tch in front of me and you are f*cking guilty because Sunday this is going to be a murder because of you, you f*cking p*ssy. F*cking p*ssy. You pulled out because you were dizzy, you had three weeks to fight. Look at you."

The 29-year-old then leapt out of his chair and threw a water bottle at Kai Kara-France, who responded by putting his middle fingers up. Israel Adesanya then sprang into action, defending his close friend and City Kickboxing teammate.

The middleweight champion told Kape to calm down before stating he needed to have some respect for Kara-France:

"Sit down, sit down. Have some f*cking respect. Shut the f*ck up, b*tch. You little cr*cker a*s. Look at this little midget trying to f*ck with me! I will f*cking bury you!"

Check out the entire exchange here (13:20):

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Israel Adesanya delivers powerful message ahead of UFC 293

Israel Adesanya is set to defend his middleweight title against Sean Strickland at UFC 293 this weekend.

Ahead of their clash, Adesanya recently opened up to the UFC media about how he has managed his emotions through the highs and lows of his career. According to 'The Last Stylebender', he's always managed to "kill" negative thoughts and emotions. He explained:

"I question myself all the time. If I have a feeling of jealousy or envy or I'm angry or I'm sad about something, I'm like, 'Well, where is that coming from?' This is the work I've done. If you watch the movie, Stylebender, you will see I've done the work on myself and I'm like, 'Where is that coming from? Where is that emotion coming from?'"

Israel Adesanya added:

"When I identify the monster, then I kill it and then I'm able to move on with my life. And then sometimes it might rear its ugly head against and I'm like, 'Ah, it's about to come out, squash' because I can sense it's coming. I'm not perfect, bro, I'm f**king - I'm human, I'm a piece of s**t sometimes, but also, I'm the man sometimes. A lot of the times. That's just the dichotomy of being a human animal."

Catch Adesanya's comments here: