Manel Kape vs. Kyoji Horiguchi squared off in a Flyweight bout earlier tonight (Sat., June 20, 2026) inside Meta Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada for UFC Vegas 119. In a wild comeback, Kape secured the third-round knockout win.
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The start of the fight was patient, as Horiguchi’s powerful body kick battled Kape’s inside low kick. After a couple minutes of feints, the first real exchange of the fight was violent, as Horiguchi landed clean twice and still got backed off by one cracking Kape counter. The first two Horiguchi takedown attempts of the fight were stuffed easily, and both men landed hard body kicks at range. In the closing seconds, Horiguchi landed a double leg and secured the opening frame.
Horiguchi started the second strong, landing another heavy body kick then stunning Kape with a left hook shortly afterward. A moment later, Horiguchi caught a low kick for an easy takedown. He settled into the guard and controlled the rest of the round, landing short punches and elbows. Outside of a few elbows from his back, Kape didn’t manage a bit of offense in the entire round.
The Japanese fighter was clearly ahead after ten minutes.
Kape started the third with aggression, swarming forward with a combination of punches. As he tried to press forward, he ran into a heavy counter hook from Horiguchi that settled his pace back down. Horiguchi checked a low kick and seemed to hurt his opponent. Out of nowhere, a Kape check hook dropped Horiguchi! “Starboy” jumped on his opponent and put him on the canvas.
From turtle, Kape fired a nasty punch under the armpit that crashed into the jaw, Dan Henderson vs. Fedor Emelianenko style. Horiguchi hit the canvas face first, and the referee quickly moved in to save him.
Wow! For most of the contest, Horiguchi was putting on masterclass with his heavy body kicks, hard counter punches, and well-timed takedowns. Even when Kape upped the pressure, it immediately backfired. Then, a single Kape counter shot erased all of his good work in an instant.
That’s game-changing power at 125 pounds. Could you imagine how incredible Joshua Van vs. Kape would be?
Result: Kape defeats Horiguchi via third-round knockoutFor complete UFC Vegas 119 results and play-by-play click here.