There is a lot of bad blood between Manel Kape and Muhammad Mokaev ahead of ther UFC 304 fight and it's starting to get out of control. Earlier this month, Jean Silva revealed the pair had gotten into a fight outside of the UFC Performance Institute. Kape denied those claims but then ... they did get into a fight.
A video was posted that showed both camps going at it at the fighter hotel in Manchester, England on Wednesday.
TEAM KAPE AND TEAM MOKAEV JUST GOT INTO A FIGHT IN MANCHESTER #UFC304 pic.twitter.com/1GyG9JKDSy
— ACD MMA (@acdmma_) July 24, 2024
“Nothing happened,” Kape told MMA Fighting of the rumored fight at the PI. “It was just Jean. I have a Brazilian friend, he made this story [up] just to spice up the fight. He knows I’m going to fight Mokaev and we tweeted before in the past badly with each other, this was public. We never hid this from anyone. This was public.”
He may be right that nothing happened but we all now know at least this brawl is real. Mokaev even shared a screengrab of the video on his own Instagram.
Mokaev has now posted a photo of Manel Kape who looks like he has blood on his face
— ACD MMA (@acdmma_) July 24, 2024
is this fight cooked? 😩 https://t.co/i6haKjSCOK pic.twitter.com/jVqpPXGhqF
According to Xtreme Couture head coach Eric Nicksick, Kape was asked to take a photo with Mokaev “for our Muslim brothers.” Kape agreed. The next moment, Kape was attacked by Mokaev’s camp. That photo has been circulating on Twitter.
I thought Manel and Mokaev had beef but it seems they straightened everything out,
— 𝘽𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙖10𝙠 |🔥 x 🧊 x 🪨 x 💨 (@burna10k) July 22, 2024
Still why does Manel look so damn fat 6 days out of the fight ☠️ pic.twitter.com/kQm6w0D6bC
Kape also took to Twiter to share his side of the story writing, "What kind of Muslim are you? You gave me Salam asked to take a picture and then tried to punch me in the betrayal, i can see now you are not a child of the dagestao, because there are created men you are just a poor bastard raised on a low income in Manchester without honor and principles. When I hit you in Vegas I went alone and I told you to be ready, I don't hit men with their guard down or distracted or on the back. I thought everything was solved, but now the carnage will continue... Shaytan!"
What kind of Muslim are you? You gave me Salam asked to take a picture and then tried to punch me in the betrayal, i can see now you are not a child of the dagestao, because there are created men you are just a poor bastard raised on a low income in Manchester without honor and… pic.twitter.com/DorTl7VHkH
— マネル・ケイプ موسى Manel Kape (@ManelKape) July 25, 2024
Honestly it seems like there's a lot going on that we aren't aware of. The fight was initially slated to be on the main card of the event but has since been demoted to an early prelim, which makes no sense. Now this? This is a developing story and we'll update as soon as more information is obtained.
UFC 304 takes place on July 27 and is headlined by UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards taking on Belal Muhammad and UFC interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall taking on Curtis Blaydes.