He worked his way to the top, eventually winning the Rizin bantamweight title and solidifying himself as someone ready to compete with the best fighters that MMA has to offer.
The UFC wasted no time putting Kape up against top competition, giving him flyweight contenders Alexandre Pantoja and Matheus Nicolau in his first two bouts. Although he came up short in both bouts, he pushed the veterans to the limit and showed that he clearly belonged in the UFC.
Kape bounced back from those two defeats with two emphatic knockout finishes and carries that momentum into his UFC 275 fight with No. 8-ranked Rogerio Bontorin on June 11th.
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“It’s not how it begins; it’s how you finish,” Kape told UFC.com. “Many people have a good start in UFC; they start very well but finish bad and they don’t have good progress. Look at Charles Oliveira – he had not so good times in the UFC but it’s about how he’s finished.”
When all is said and done, Kape has no doubt that he’ll go down as one of the best flyweights to step into the UFC Octagon. He’s always felt that way, even when he wasn’t in the UFC. Now he’s just looking to move up the ladder and prove it to everyone else.