Kape Apologizes For His Erratic Behavior, Alex Pereira And Du Plessis’ Future

Manel Kape has apologized for his conduct during the UFC 293 build up. 

Kape was on course to face Felipe dos Santos, as the pre-fight presser raised many headlines. Kape chose to ignore his opponent for most of it, as his attention turned towards Kai Kara-France.

Manel was set to face Kara-France initially, however, the latter pulled out due to a concussion. However, Kara-France still showed up to the presser to support his teammates when things got out of hand. 

Kape began to fire verbal shots at Kara-France with alleged homophobic remarks, as well as throwing a water bottle. Although Kape did end up beating dos Santos via a unanimous decision, he did regret his behavior in the aftermath. 

Kape Apologizes

“Yeah, I am sorry for that. It’s emotional, you know. During the fight, during the interview, we are all emotions. We say things that we didn’t want to say, but for (those) who feel bad about that, I apologize,” Kape

Now that the issue has been addressed, Kape will be hoping to fight Kara-France at some point in the future. And with the bad blood in place, there are plenty of reasons to make the fight happen. 

Pereira’s Future

Meanwhile, Alex Pereira appears to have ruled out a move back down to middleweight following Israel Adesanya’s loss to Sean Strickland. 

Adesanya lost his middleweight title that he won against Pereira via a unanimous decision. Prior to the fight, Pereira had stated that he would be open to coming back down to middleweight to face Adesanya in a trilogy fight. But now that Adesanya no longer has the belt, Pereira’s enthusiasm for the fight appears to have gone. 

“Seems like my plans to go down one more time to Middleweight ran out,” Pereira said 

Those comments were backed up by Dana White, who also could not see Pereira making a move back down. Instead, White expected Pereira to continue campaigning at light heavyweight after his win over Jan Blachowicz.

After all, Pereira is one of the main fighters in contention for the vacant UFC light heavyweight title. And with reports that a title shot against Jiri Prochazka is being considered for UFC 296 in December, White had this to say. 

“I don’t think so. I think he’ll stay at light heavyweight, you know? I don’t know, but I don’t think so. I don’t see him cutting back down again. That’s a lot of weight to cut. That guy’s a monster,” White

Du Plessis On The Future

In addition to this, Dricus Du Plessis was unfazed by Israel Adesanya’s loss to Sean Strickland. 

Adesanya lost his middleweight title in what was his first defense of the title in what was a huge upset. Although Dana White has suggested that a rematch could take place, Adesanya’s stock has fallen since then. 

A major fight with Du Plessis was on the cards prior to the Strickland fight, which may now not go ahead. However, the South African was not disrupted by the Adesanya loss.

Du Plessis made it clear that he was still intent on securing a fight for the belt at some point in the future. A fight with Izzy was expected, but a foot injury ruled out Du Plessis as Strickland stepped in.

And since Strickland won the belt, Du Plessis’ main focus was clear. 

“Makes no difference to me, the belt is coming home,” Du Plessis

As such, the MMA fighter has called out Strickland in the hope of then fighting Adesanya later down the line. 

“Myself and [Strickland] had the biggest upsets of 2023 and I am undoubtedly the No. 1 contender, so let’s settle this like men whenever, wherever. After that, I’ll give [Adesanya] his well-deserved hiding on my home soil South Africa,” Du Plessis

Moving forward, Adesanya and Du Plessis are at a crossroads. If the latter does manage to face Strickland and grab the win, then a fight with Adesanya could still occur. However, if both fighters are devoid of a belt, then the desire to make the fight happen may no longer be there.

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