Joshua Van vs. Manel Kape: Previewing the potential matchup

A month ago, Joshua Van successfully defended his flyweight title against ex-divisional kingpin Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 331. The win solidified Van as the weight class' true champion, but he will now have to face a more dangerous opponent in Manel Kape.

Joshua Van vs. Manel Kape: A striker vs. striker clash

The beef between Joshua Van and Manel Kape is well-known, as both men have been calling each other out on social media for some time now, stemming from Kape previously pulling out of their scheduled UFC 317 bout. While neither 125-pounder is short on confidence, how do they match up stylistically? Van is the UFC flyweight champion, and he has proven himself by twice defending his belt against ex-champion Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 331 and Tatsuro Taira at UFC 328. Both fights tested his defensive wrestling and grappling from the bottom, and he passed with flying colors, outworking Pantoja to a unanimous decision win and TKO'ing Taira in round five.

Meanwhile, Kape is coming off his own stellar win from UFC Vegas 119, scoring a third-round TKO over Kyoji Horiguchi. Although both men are strikers, they differ significantly in how they fight. Van is mainly a boxer, who applies pressure while making reads in round one to inform his counterpunches as the fight progresses. However, he does have kicks in his arsenal, and showcased some nice front kicks to the body against Pantoja, which could pay dividends against Kape, whose midsection is usually exposed. But it's Van's boxing that is the reason for his success. He has a very sharp jab that he uses to gauge distance, and one of the best left hands in the game, that he throws as either an overhand or hook depending on which works best in a situation as a counter.

On the physicality front, Van has respectable power. He isn't someone whose punches any opponent should disregard, but he isn't a power-puncher. Instead, he deals more damage as the fight progresses because once he picks up on his opponent's habits, he's able to land with more precision and better timing. Defensively, he does get hit a lot and has taken damage against most of his opponents. This can be blamed on his stance, because Van fights with his back heel raised. This allows him to hop into range with combinations, closing the distance with surprising speed, but it also means he can be parried and countered. It hasn't gotten him into too much trouble yet, because he's usually faster than his opponent, and his raised heel allows him to bounce right out of range when he needs to.

A fast and powerful striker like Kape, though, can make him pay for these tendencies. Kape has great timing, fantastic hand speed, and more power than anyone at flyweight. He usually fights from a longer range than most 125-pounders, and gives up the first round to study his opponent. He keeps his hands low to goad other fighters into taking a swing at him, while simultaneously making his punches harder to see coming since they rise from the hip. Kape also mixes in stance-switching to confuse his opponent, before entering with either a shifting combination or a flying knee. However, his money punch is his straight, which he can throw from either southpaw or orthodox, and which he uses to dart into range or interrupt his opponent mid-combination or mid-low kick.

He doesn't move his head much, though, and much of his defensive work and countering ability depends on him being faster than everyone. But his speed wanes as the fight progresses. What does remain, though, is his power, which could be problematic for Van in the earlier rounds. He also has good low kicks that he can use to make Van pay for being so front-foot heavy. There's another factor that needs to be taken into account, however, and that is that Kape is a dirty fighter. He's a serial cheater, who uses eye pokes and groin shots. In fact, his third-round TKO over Asu Almabayev at UFC Vegas 103 saw him land an eye poke combination, with a left eye poke followed by a right eye poke. He may very well compromise Van in some form.

So, who wins?

Joshua Van vs. Manel Kape: The Verdict

The truth is that Joshua Van is a more skilled fighter than Manel Kape, who is in turn more athletic and dangerous. Van will make reads, capitalize on Kape's nonexistent head movement, and attack his exposed body. Kape's speed will vanish after some rounds, but his power will remain, which is what Van will have to watch out for. If he can avoid the knockout punch from Kape, Van will win a somewhat competitive unanimous decision.