Manel Kape exchanged heated words with the then-UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya at the UFC 293 pre-fight press conference, refusing Adesanya’s subsequent backstage apology for intervening in Kape’s criticisms of Kai Kara-France, who withdrew from the card due to a training injury.
In the lead up to UFC 293, Manel Kape showed he was not just ready for his bout against Felipe dos Santos but also quite vocal at the pre-fight press conference. His tirade was directed at Kai Kara-France, who had to withdraw due to a concussion he sustained during training. Kape’s words did not go down well with others, notably then-UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, who is teammates with Kara-France. Adesanya was there to promote his match against Sean Strickland and he didn’t hold back on words for Kape.
The altercation between the fighters led to a heated exchange, with Adesanya threatening to “bury” Kape and referring to the flyweight contender as a “midget.” This triggered the need for security intervention to prevent the situation from escalating into a physical altercation. The dust seemed to have settled there when Kape disclosed that Adesanya approached him backstage and offered an apology.
However, Kape did not accept the apology, pointing out that his issue was with Kara-France, not Adesanya. He was particularly peeved that Adesanya had intruded into his fray with Kara-France and had stood up for his teammate. According to Kape, Adesanya’s offer of apology and calling them “African brothers” didn’t cut it with him. He said, “Look, my problem is with Kai Kara, not with you. Why did you stand up? He can handle his business.”
Despite being in the same place again two days later at UFC 293, Kape refused to accept Adesanya’s apology. He claims he would have taken his anger out on him if there weren’t any cameras around and boldly declared that he wouldn’t shy away from a fight, irrespective of the person’s size. He didn’t mince words when he said, “Believe me, if he’s in the street with no cameras, I’ll eat you, too”. While Kape wasn’t surprised that Adesanya approached him to talk backstage, he believed Adesanya was just “acting”. His qualm was the fake drama surrounding the press conference, which he saw as a publicity stunt orchestrated by Kara-France and his team.