A rematch nearly 10 years in the making and likely title eliminator fight for the UFC flyweight division will take place in front of minimal fans at the Meta APEX.
The week leading up to Saturday’s UFC Seattle card hasn’t featured a whole lot of fight announcements outside of Conor McGregor’s potential return this summer, but on Tuesday MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn did break the news that top-ranked flyweights Manel Kape and Kyoji Horiguchi will headline UFC Vegas 119 on June 20.
Horiguchi defeated Kape outside the UFC in 2017
The fight is a massive one for the flyweight title picture, and it also includes the added storyline of former UFC title challenger Horiguchi having submitted Kape when the pair first met in Japan under the RIZIN FF banner on New Year’s Eve in 2017.
Currently sitting at #2 in the official UFC flyweight rankings, Kape is one win shy of matching his best UFC win streak after knocking out three-straight opponents.
The 32-year-old’s last loss came at the hands of the still-undefeated Muhammad Mokaev at UFC 304 in what many fans assumed was a title eliminator fight. Mokaev was famously released from the promotion following the win, and he’s now set to meet former ONE Championship star Adriano Moraes as part of MVP MMA 1, which is headlined by Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano.
Horiguchi’s initial UFC run came to an end in 2016 after he rebounded from a failed flyweight title bid with a trio of victories before going on to find tremendous success with RIZIN FF in his native Japan. The lengthy hiatus from the UFC saw the Japanese star claim both RIZIN and Bellator gold before he unexpectedly rejoined the UFC last year and submitted Tagir Ulanbekov before he most recently defeated Amir Albazi in February.
Horiguchi’s initial UFC run came to an end in 2016 after he rebounded from a failed flyweight title bid with a trio of victories before going on to find tremendous success with RIZIN FF in his native Japan. The lengthy hiatus from the UFC saw the Japanese star claim both RIZIN and Bellator gold before he unexpectedly rejoined the UFC last year and submitted Tagir Ulanbekov in his return fight and followed that up with a unanimous decision over Amir Albazi in February.
MMA fans react as possible title eliminator gets APEX treatment
Depending on the outcome of the UFC 327 co-main event between reigning titleholder Joshua Van and Tatsuro Taira, as well as the health of former divisional king Alexandre Pantoja, the winner of the Kape vs. Horiguchi rematch could be in pole position for the next flyweight title shot.
Given the significant stakes attached to such a high-profile rematch, fans weren’t exactly thrilled by the news that Kape vs. Horiguchi 2 will headline a UFC Fight Night card at the Meta APEX, rather than feature as part of a larger event with a full crowd in attendance.
“Great fight but this should have happened in Japan, if not some arena with fans. Not the f***ing Apex…” – @mj_reuben
“Man, f*** the Apex.” – @titanmarsXS
“criminal at the f***ing apex” – @Wasabiboys
“APEX is disrespectful to how fun of a matchup this is” – @TheKnockMMA
“In a f***ing warehouse ffs.” – @BoxyUK
The flyweight headliner is the second fight that’s been set for UFC Vegas 119, which will also see Jhonata Diniz welcome his countryman Jose Luiz to the UFC in an all-Brazilian heavyweight contest.
UFC Vegas 119 Fight Card
• Main Event: Manel Kape vs. Kyoji Horiguchi 2
• Jhonata Diniz vs. Jose Luiz
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