Manel Kape impresses in dominant victory over David Dvorak at UFC Vegas 66
The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to us tonight, December 17, 2022, for the final promotional event of the year, UFC Vegas 66.
Headlining the event is a middleweight match up between no. 3 ranked former title challenger Jared Cannonier (15-6) and no. 7 ranked Sean Strickland (25-4), and it is to be co-headlined by a lightweight bout showcasing no. 9 ranked Arman Tsarukyan (18-3) and no. 12 ranked Damir Ismagulov (25-1).
Our second bout on the preliminary card tonight came in the flyweight division between former Rizin bantamweight champion, no. 12 ranked Manel Kape (17-6) and former GCF flyweight champion, no. 9 ranked David Dvorak (20-4).
Kape came into the bout on a two-fight win streak, securing both victories via first round knockout, while Dvorak had won 16 of his last 17 contests coming in. What’s more, both of their most recent defeats came to no. 5 ranked Matheus Nicolau (19-2-1), and they’d both fought four times inside the UFC.
Continue reading to see how this flyweight contest went down:
Official Result: Manel Kape def. David Dvorak via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Dvorak is circling the outside of the octagon through the first three minutes of the bout, and lands two hard calf kicks in doing so. Kape is chasing him, and though he lands a nice punch, he ends up on his back after throwing a spinning wheel kick.
Dvorak is in Kape’s half guard as soon as the hit the mat, before Kape regains his guard.
Once Dvorak passes to Kape’s half guard, Kape wraps up a kimura, secures the sweep, and nearly gets the submission victory in the final seconds of the opening round. Ten more seconds, maybe less, and this fight certainly would’ve been over right then and there.
Dvorak was holding his shoulder on his way back to his corner, and the doctor took a good look at it before deciding to let the fight continue.
Kape stuns Dvorak in round two and absolutely unloads on him. Dvorak is eventually forced to fall and eats a load of punches on the mat, before Kape allows him to stand back up. Kape then lands a beautiful two-punch shovel hook combination that keeps Dvorak in trouble.
Kape keeps on the attack and continues to hurt Dvorak, before going for a spinning elbow that Dvorak capitalizes on, securing a takedown to end the second.
Dvorak comes out with a sense of urgency in the third and final round, only to be pieced up by Kape every time he steps in to strike; Kape’s timing tonight was as on-point as we’ve ever seen.
After nearly securing the finish in both the first and second rounds, Kape takes home just the second decision victory of his career at UFC Vegas 66, improving his win streak to three-straight, and improving his professional record to 18-6.
Manel Kape fought four times last year in 2021, and after back-to-back cancelled bouts, he finally made his first appearance in 2022 and looked absolutely incredible.
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