Manel Kape says Joshua Van’s confidence will be “very delusional” ahead of UFC 336

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Manel Kape says Joshua Van’s confidence as he heads into UFC 336 is likely to be “very delusional confidence,” as he prepares to challenge for the UFC flyweight title at UFC 336 on Jan. 30 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.

Kape enters the main event with a record of 23-7 in MMA and 8-3 in the UFC, while Van comes in at 18-2 in MMA and 11-1 in the UFC.

Van is fresh off a successful title defense against Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 331 last month. In their first fight at UFC 323, Van erased any doubt about a “fluke” win as the rematch unfolded.

Kape said the way he expected the Pantoja fight to go matches what he saw, telling MMA Junkie, “Honestly, everything that I saw is what I expected. I think Pantoja just fought too emotional, you know? He got too emotional in the fight, made a lot of mistakes, but Joshua Van is a show. What he's been showing in other fights – boxing, resilience, and he was durable. But still a lot of mistakes there, still a lot of holes, and that's what I expect to explore.”

Kape is riding momentum into UFC 336 with four-straight stoppage wins, and he believes he can capitalize on holes in Van’s game. “The game plan is very easy,” Kape said. “I know a lot of mistakes he had for the lack of experience, for not being too long in this sport, and I just think that so many guys didn't exploit that. I think they just spent time boxing with him. Even if I want to spend time boxing with him, I can spend boxing with him because I come from this. I have this knowledge. I have this instinct of boxing, but there are a lot of things people need that they didn't exploit that I will definitely exploit to make this fight as easy as I can.”

Kape also said he expects the fight to frustrate Van because he plans to control when it turns into a brawl. “I can see things that can make me going for the finish early than I expect. So, I'm definitely going to surprise him, and then I can tell it's going to be frustrating because he likes to have these brawl fights. We're not going to get to that position because I'm going to dictate the pace. I'm going to dictate when we should go brawl, when we should go slow, and then when I can change the tempo of the fight. So, I have all this set up, and definitely this is what's going to happen. ... This is the end of the road.”

On Van’s title-holder confidence, Kape said the belt brings a different confidence, but warned that it won’t hold up against his approach. “Of course, having the belt gives you a different confidence, but don't come with that confidence with me because it's going to be very delusional confidence,” Kape said. “Because you're going to fight a better man, a better fighter than you with more experience. Anything you do, I do better. Honestly, I see him like my fan. He tries to be a version of Manel. He's my fan, but I'll show levels.”