Manel Kape and Kyoji Horiguchi are running it back for a sequel clash later this month, with a fighter who has established history with the latter commenting on that contest. The referenced fighter is Hiromasa Ougikubo, who holds Rizin Fighting Federation gold and is a consistent training partner of the UFC’s most recent flyweight title challenger, Tatsuro Taira.

Hiromasa Ougikubo defends his RFF flyweight crown in his own rematch against Makoto Shinryu at Rizin Landmark 14 on June 6th. Ougikubo is a former opponent of Kyoji Horiguchi’s multiple times over, and with the context of Taira attempting to become Japan’s first UFC champion, Horiguchi is also vying for that placement in history by bringing the UFC strap to the land of the rising sun.

When asked for his thoughts on Horiguchi’s looming rematch with Manel Kape for the June 20th UFC Fight Night card, Ougikubo said [via Bowks Talking Bouts],

“When you look at the UFC flyweight roster, I’ve always thought that Manel Kape has the most dangerous style for Horiguchi. So with that said, I think Horiguchi will have absolutely no time to to put his guard down. Obviously it’s gonna be a very tough fight but I do think that Horiguchi’s experience and his fight is going to get him through and try to expose or kind of figure out Manel Kape in a way throughout the rounds. I think he’ll be able to find a way where he gets the win.”

Manel Kape gives Joshua Van his flowers, but wants his UFC belt

Manel Kape is also looking to secure his own crack at 125-pound gold and gave current divisional kingpin Joshua Van his flowers before indicating his focus on wanting to dethrone him. This was addressed in a post on his personal X platform where Kape stated,

“Big props to Joshua for the achievement. A lot of people and fighters have been hating on him, and the only answer I can find is jealousy. Many fighters can’t handle the success of others, and that’s exactly why they’ll never truly succeed themselves. The journey started when he took the opportunity after I broke my foot he stepped in and beat [Brandon] Royval. Congrats to the young man. But I’ll see you soon, and I’ll take back what is mine. Not on my time… on Allah’s time.”