UFC 304 has added a big time flyweight matchup to the card that could very well be a title eliminator. Home of Fight was the first to report earlier today and the report has since been confirmed that top flyweights Muhammad Mokaev (11-0) and Manel Kape (19-6) will face off in July.
UFC 304 goes down on July 27th from Manchester, England. This will be a home fight for Mokaev who will look to remain unbeaten and stake his claim to the next title shot. Back in March, Mokaev defeated Alex Perez by decision which was his sixth straight win to start his career inside the octagon.
When UFC 301 needed a flyweight title main event, Mokaev wanted the shot against champion Alexandre Pantoja. However, Steve Erceg got the fight and nearly pulled off the upset. Now, Mokaev will look to seal his title fight with a big time win over Manel Kape. With Pantoja wanting to take time off, this fight comes at a perfect time for Mokaev.
UFC 304
Manel Kape entered the UFC back in 2020 as the RIZIN flyweight champion. He had a lot of hype behind him and he debuted against current champ Alexandre Pantoja. He lost that fight by decision then lost a split decision to Matheus Nicolau. After the Nicolau loss, he won back-to-back fights by first round knockout.
That said, the second of those knockouts took place in December 2021. Kape has only fought twice since then. He’s had a total of seven cancellations for a number of different reasons. He won both of those fights but the lack of fights has killed his momentum. His inability to make weight certainly didn’t help his case for a UFC title shot earlier this year.
This is a massive fight for Kape. First and foremost, he has to show the promotion that he can make weight with no problem. Then, he has the opportunity to take out an unbeaten contender on his home soil. If he’s able to do both of those things, you could see him get his rematch with UFC champ Alexandre Pantoja to close 2024.