Manel Kape insists UFC champion Alexandre Pantoja not on his level

Manel Kape is confident he’d avenge his loss to Alexandre Pantoja if they rematched.

Pantoja (27-5 MMA, 11-3 UFC) spoiled Kape’s (19-6 MMA, 4-2 UFC) UFC debut when he defeated him by unanimous decision in February 2021.

Kape has since gone 4-1, and was on the cusp of title contention before withdrawing for a second time against Matheus Nicolau in this past Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 241 headliner, this time due to a rib injury.

“He’s not on my level,” Kape said on the “JAXXON PODCAST.” “Pantoja is not on my level, believe me. He can fight whatever style. I am a good match with him.”

Kape pointed to the slippery canvas preventing him from moving as the reason why he lost to Pantoja in their first fight.

“The thing is, it was not the skills but I was sliding a lot in the cage,” Kape said. “If you watch the fight properly, I was more concerned to balance. I was sliding. I was like using a skate, and I couldn’t punch. If you slide, you can’t have the power to counter, to go back, to pull.

“You don’t feel grip. You see the two fights that I lost. … It’s not that they do something. They don’t do anything. It was just inactivity on my part because of course I can’t go there to punch and go back to pull, I was like sliding. Very slippery.”

Pantoja defends his flyweight title against Erceg (12-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 301 (Pay-per-view/ESPN/ESPN+) main event at Farmasi Arena in Rio de Janeiro.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 301.