"More consistent than him" - Manel Kape predicts flyweight title fight between Alexandre Pantoja vs. Brandon Royval

Manel Kape has quickly emerged as one of the most talked-about fighters in the UFC flyweight division, which has, historically, failed to capture significant fan interest. Kape's rise to relevance in the casual fanbase can be attributed to his antics at the UFC 293 pre-fight press conference.

It led to him becoming a divisional fixture that fans are eager to one day see fight for the title. However, he must first get past Matheus Nicolau at UFC Fight Night 234 on January 13, and rack up one or two more subsequent wins. For now, he is content with offering his thoughts on the upcoming title fight.

During an appearance on Michael Bisping's YouTube podcast, Believe You Me, Manel Kape gave his prediction (at 1:30:23 hours) for the pending UFC 296 title fight between newly minted flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja and a man that the latter has already beaten in Brandon Royval.

"Pantoja definitely. No doubt. Pantoja's more consistent than him," Kape said. "But Brandon Royval is, you know, unpredictable. This guy is... not too technical, but he throws some weird stuff. Yes, he's wild. I prefer a fight with someone that know how to fight than someone that don't know how to fight. When I look at Brandon Royval, I see someone that don't know how to fight."

According to Manel Kape, he believes Alexandre Pantoja to be a more technically sound and consistent fighter than Brandon Royval, who he described as wild. It is worth noting that Kape and Pantoja have fought before, with Pantoja defeating him via unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night 184.

So the Angolan-Portuguese star will certainly keep a close on the UFC 296 co-main event in case he ends up facing Pantoja again in the future.

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What happened between Manel Kape and Israel Adesanya?

While the UFC 293 pre-fight press conference is remembered as the Sean Strickland show, it also featured an explosive Manel Kape, who frequently insulted his original opponent, Kai Kara-France, who sat in the crowd, for withdrawing from their bout.

He also highlighted City Kickboxing's hypocritical criticism of other fighters who pull out of their fights due to injury. Kai Kara-France, as a member of the gym, is a close friend of Israel Adesanya. So when Kape threw a water bottle at Kara-France, Adesanya literally stood in his teammate's defense.

This prompted Kape to turn his attention towards Adesanya, and the two jawed back and forth before security intervened and they eventually sat down.