Accused of Getting Fight Suspended on Purpose, Manel Kape Accepts Allegations Laid Out by Matheus Nicolau After Missing Weight

UFC Vegas 84 suffered a major blow. The co-main event has been called off as flyweight contender Manel Kape missed weight by a big margin, 3.5lbs to be exact. This incident has led his opponent Matheus Nicolau to call ‘Starboy’ out on social media, with accusations of intentionally sabotaging the fight. Meanwhile, Kape responded to those allegations soon after.

Just when Dana White had announced some big fights, the co-main event of the first UFC event of 2024 fell apart. Manel Kape almost weighed in 130 pounds, missing that mark by half a pound. This was not what any of the co-main events of UFC Vegas 84 would have wanted, and as such, Matheus Nicolau had something to say about the incident.

Matheus Nicolau calls out Manel Kape on social media

The 31-year-old Brazilian fighter addressed his fans and followers on Instagram to talk about the canceled fight. There, he unleashed a flurry of words on Manel Kape for being “irresponsible.” Matheus Nicolau also claimed to have followed each and every process diligently in the build-up to the fight, even maintaining his diet during Christmas, to make weight for the fight. However, he did not think Kape underwent the same process with much commitment.

Nicolau mentioned how Manel Kape arrived at the weigh-in with 30 minutes left for the event. However, after weighing 3.5 pounds higher than the limit, he reminded ‘Starboy’ that he missed weight, knowing that the NSAC would have suspended the fight anyway if he weighed even 0.5 lbs more. As such, the Brazilian believes Kape tried to cheat by gaining an advantage. Meanwhile, the Portuguese star wasn’t going to sit out without confronting his fellow flyweight. Let’s see how he responded to these accusations.

‘Starboy’ responds to Nicolau, calling him out

Manel Kape wasn’t too proud of getting the fight canceled. However, he had some things to say about the accusations laid on him by Matheus Nicolau. Kape claims that he never intended to be late and miss weight to gain an upper advantage. The Portuguese fighting was still going through the process of weight loss during the day of the weigh-in and spent too much time in the sauna, making him arrive late at the event.

“No Matheus, I delayed because I stayed in the sauna the most to try to lose weight, but it worked out,” Manel Kape commented. He claimed that apart from the accusation of internationally sabotaging the fight, the 30-year-old seemed to agree with the other things Nicolau had to say. Kape added, “You are right about everything except this. Congratulations on your professionalism.”

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With the UFC suffering its first major blow in 2024, several questions are lingering around the speculations if there will be a fight promoted to the co-main event status or not. It may not have been the start that Dana White would have wanted, but missing weight isn’t an unknown phenomenon in this line of work.

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