Manel Kape denies any physical altercation with Muhammad Mokaev, attributing the rumor to a fabricated story by a friend to hype their upcoming UFC fight.
Manel Kape doesn’t back down from a challenge. But it’s tough to settle scores when the guy he supposedly beat up wasn’t even there.
In early July, Jean Silva claimed he saw Kape attack his upcoming UFC 304 opponent, Muhammad Mokaev, outside the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas. The incident allegedly stemmed from harsh words exchanged on social media. Silva detailed what he called a firsthand account of watching the altercation unfold.
“He elbowed Mokaev in the head on the street, bro,” Silva claimed. “He caught Mokaev at the entrance here to the [UFC] P.I. He headbutted him and elbowed him in the street. He opened Mokaev’s head a week before his fight. He’s a psychopath.”
The only problem with that story, according to Kape, is that it never happened.
“Nothing happened,” Kape told MMA Fighting. “It was just Jean. I have a Brazilian friend; he made this story [up] just to spice up the fight.” He added, “We tweeted badly with each other before; this was public.”
While altercations between fighters have occurred at the UFC P.I., it’s typically filled with athletes around the clock. It seemed strange no one else witnessed this alleged brawl between Kape and Mokaev.
To further disprove any physical altercation, Kape pointed out that he trains in Las Vegas while Mokaev rarely travels to the U.S., except for fight week.
Proximity-wise, that would make a street fight between them rather difficult to facilitate.
“Mokaev is in Dagestan or England, and I’m in Vegas,” Kape said. “We did not have any fight.” He continued, “People like to buy this fan story… Jean is a good promoter.”
“But no, nothing happened,” Kape reiterated. “Me and Mokaev are good; we are brothers.”
Of course, Kape doesn’t mind standing up for himself even when he’s smaller than his opponent. He famously had a heated verbal exchange with former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya ahead of UFC 293 and later rejected an apology from “The Last Stylebender.”
That being said, Kape’s previous war of words with Mokaev was merely social media bluster as the 23-year-old undefeated prospect started calling out higher-ranked flyweights to book a fight.
“Mokaev is a young kid who wants to rise fast,” Kape said. “He wants to be a champion like Jon Jones so early but didn’t get the opportunity.”
“So of course he made this game at the beginning to catch big sharks… I understood his game.”
“But we never had anything personal,” Kape clarified. “Not physical interaction.” Jean wanted to hype up this fight.
“When it comes to our actual fight on July 27,” Kape said he’s excited about finally getting into the octagon with Mokaev after so much online debate and interviews.
Kape appreciates Mokaev’s talent since joining UFC but noted some shortcomings among his opponents that cost them chances to end his unbeaten run.
“Definitely, he’s been winning,” Kape acknowledged. When Jafel Filho snapped his leg against him… it was more ego talking.”
“He has an impressive record but can’t continue doing this all the time.”
“I saw many small mistakes from fighters facing him… Championship-level fighters don’t make these mistakes.”
“In particular,” Kape looked at Mokaev’s most recent win against Tim Elliott and saw moments where Elliott could have pulled off an upset.
“Tim Elliott is just a bum,” Kape bluntly stated. “He fights like an idiot.” Despite doing well against Mokaev initially…
“He’s just very sloppy and dumb—my opinion.”
The stakes couldn’t be higher as all signs point towards the winner getting a shot at reigning UFC flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja.
Kape fully expects that scenario after talking with UFC officials about becoming champion—a goal dangling over his head for months now.
“Yes,” we’ve been in conversation [with UFC],” revealed Kape. “Even when I was supposed to fight Matheus Nicolau in April… This is my second opportunity for the belt.”
“I just have to step into that cage and win.”