Israel Adesanya and Manel Kape had a heated confrontation at the pre-fight press conference for UFC 293 after Kape launched a verbal attack at Adesanya’s teammate, Kai Kara-France.
At a pre-fight press conference in Australia for UFC 293, an intense confrontation nearly occurred between fighters Israel Adesanya and Manel Kape. Although these two were not scheduled to battle each other, the heat of emotions ran high during the event. The tension escalated when Kape was queried about his forthcoming bout versus Felipe dos Santos, a matchup set up in haste after local favorite Kai Kara-France, who is an associate of Adesanya, was forced to back out due to a concussion sustained during training.
Kara-France, whilst not participating, still attended the conference in moral support of his City Kickboxing teammates. Not missing a beat, Kape quickly spotted him a few feet away in the crowd. “Unfortunately, Kai Kara-France is a b****,” Kape called out dramatically to his fellow UFC competitor, accusing Kara-France of culpability for his (Kape’s) upcoming ordeal. Kape’s words clearly showed he held contempt for Kara-France’s absence from the fight on such short notice, indicating that Santos, his replacement, would be unfairly paying the price for it.
Amid these heated exchanges, Adesanya found himself drawn into the conflict from his seat, which was just a seat away from Kape with only Tai Tuivasa, another fighter, separating them. Addressing Kape, Adesanya’s intervention saw Kape divert his ire towards him, which led to security having to step in to keep things under control. As the altercation grew, Tai Tuivasa struggled to restore order, and it ironically became Adesanya’s opponent, Sean Strickland, who became the voice of reason, instructing Adesanya to step back and cease.
Despite the charged atmosphere, the press conference continued. Eventually, Kape once more brought up Kara-France and expressed his desire to fight him post UFC 293: “After this fight, I want that man, Kai Kara-France,” said Kape. Before the conference ended, Kape took one last jab at Kara-France, explicitly gesturing him from the stage as he came face-to-face with his opponent, dos Santos.