Manel Kape is shrugging off the debate surrounding his knockout victory against Asu Almabayev.
Earlier this month at UFC Vegas 103, Kape put on a striking clinic, overwhelming Almabayev with speed and aggression before sealing the deal with a third-round TKO in the main event at UFC APEX.
However, in the aftermath of the fight, controversy swirled as broadcast replays revealed "Starboy" scraping Almabayev’s eye not once but twice — first in the second round, then again in the third. Despite the apparent foul, referee Mike Beltran didn’t catch the infraction in real time, allowing the action to continue.
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Days after the bout, "Zulfikar" took to social media and shared a shocking image of his reddened, swollen eye, alleging it was the result of the uncalled foul. However, the outspoken Portuguese striker refuses to take the blame.
During a recent interview with MMA Fighting, Manel Kape dismissed the criticism, insisting that Almabayev’s eye was already compromised from the very first punch he landed — not from what he describes as an accidental strike.
Against Asu, his eye became like that, it was the first punch," Kape said. "It was the first punch that hit him. If you guys watch the fight very carefully and watch the first round, when I got the punch, immediately his eye was already destroyed.
Aside from the eye poke controversy, Kape dominated the fight, effortlessly shutting down Almabayev’s takedown attempts. "Starboy" also voiced his frustration, stating that some fans are fixating on the foul in an attempt to discredit his victory, but he refuses to let it shake him.
It was not an eye poke that made the fight, that finished the fight,” Manel Kape said. "I was beating him. People go and find excuses because it was me. People want to find an excuse. There’s a type of fighters that get a lot of hate. This is a special fighters, the champions, they always talk about them and they want to criticize them. I know I’m one of the people that get a lot of hate but when you’re winning, when you become a champion, they want to be on your side.
With his victory over "Zulfikar," Kape has improved his UFC record to 6-3, boasting four knockout wins along the way. His last setback came at UFC 304 this past July, where he suffered a unanimous decision loss to Muhammad Mokaev.