UFC 293 video: Manel Kape burns Israel Adesanya with ‘cartoon porn addiction’ crack

IMAGO/AAP UFC 293: Israel Adesanya vs. Sean Strickland is days away

On Saturday Israel Adesanya is scheduled to defend his UFC middleweight title against Sean Strickland, a belt he won back from arch rival Alex Pereira earlier this year. Against Strickland, Adesanya is hoping to further his candidacy as one of the best middleweights in MMA and UFC history.

However, during the final press conference for UFC 293 Adesanya not only exchanged barbs with his opponent, but also someone else on the card (who is no threat to his UFC middleweight crown).

Check out what happened when UFC flyweight Manel Kape got heated during the presser.

Israel Adesanya and Manel Kape get into it at the UFC 293 press conference.

It all started when Kape was asked a question about how hard he has found it getting a fight booking over the line and into the Octagon. Kape, who is due to fight Felipe dos Santos on Saturday, used the question as an opportunity to attack Kai Kara-France.

“Unfortunately, Kai Kara-France is a bitch. A fucking bitch. He’s in front of me and you are fucking guilty because, Sunday, this kid’s going to pay, get murdered. Because of you, you fucking pussy.”

Kape and Kara-France had been due to fight at UFC 293. But Kara-France was forced to pull out due to a concussion. Kara-France is a City Kickboxing teammate of Adesanya.

Kape continued to malign Kara-France, who was sitting with the audience at the press conference. Then he noticed Adesanya had stood up and was glaring at him.

“Sit the fuck down!” yelled Kape at The Last StyleBender. “I’ll fuck you up. Shut your mouth!”

The pair then yelled at each other until cooler heads prevailed. While this all happened, Tai Tuivasa sat uncomfortably between them not sure whether to burst out laughing or stand up and separate them.

“Look at this little midget trying to fuck with me,” called Adesanya towards the end of the exchange. “I’ll fucking bury you.”

As Adesanya sat down, Kape blistered “Your business is with him”, referencing Strickland. He followed this with “Your cartoon porn addiction”.

This is a reference to Strickland’s previous claim that the anime loving Adesanya enjoys pornographic cartoons (something Strickland said for laughs, not as a serious accusation).

Adesanya made sure to let Strickland know that specific kind of media had a name.

Manel Kape signed for the UFC in 2021 after a thrilling run in the RIZIN organization. In Japan he took wins over Ian McCall, Takeya Mizugaki and, most notably, Kai Asakura. The win over Asakura earned Kape the RIZIN bantamweight title.

On signing with the UFC, Kape’s career has started to mimic that of his old opponent McCall, with a stunning number of fight cancellations.

Manel Kape when he beat Ode Osbourne. Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

In three years Kape has had at least seven bouts fall through. Those include two fights with Rogerio Bontorin (due to Bontorin getting injured and then botching his weight cut), a bout with Deiveson Figueiredo (after the former champ was not medically cleared) and a fight with Alex Perez (who suffered a medical issue on fight night).

When he has fought inside the Octagon, Kape has gone 3-2 with wins over Ode Osbourne, Zhalgas Zhumagulov and David Dvorak. His losses are a split decision to Matheus Nicolau and a unanimous decision to current champion Alexandre Pantoja.

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Tim Bissell

Tim Bissell is a writer, editor and deputy site manager for Bloody Elbow. He has covered combat sports since 2015. Tim covers news and events and has also written longform and investigative pieces. Among Tim’s specialties are the intersections between crime and combat sports. Tim has also covered head trauma, concussions and CTE in great detail.

Tim is also BE’s lead (only) sumo reporter. He blogs about that sport here and on his own substack, Sumo Stomp!

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