Manel Kape ends Asu Almabayev’s win streak at Fight Night

Flyweight Manel Kape earned a third-round TKO stoppage at 2:16, halting the 17-fight winning streak of Asu Almabayev in the main event on Saturday in Las Vegas at UFC Fight Night.

Kape (21-7 MMA, 7-3 UFC) made his intentions clear he wants a flyweight title shot in his next fight but paused to remind himself how far he had come in his career.

“I’m grateful for all I have accomplished,” Kape said in the Octagon post-fight.

Almabayev (21-3, 4-1) had never been beaten in the UFC before fighting Kape, suffering his first loss in 18 appearances, dating back to April 2017.

The co-main event saw middleweight Cody Brundage batter Julian Marquez with a TKO in the closing seconds of Round 1 (4:45). Brundage (11-6, 4-5) has won three of his last five fights, handing Marquez (9-6, 3-5) his fourth consecutive knockout loss since June 2022.

The next two fights saw closely contested split decisions as Hyder Amil and Nasrat Haqparast won their respective featherweight and lightweight fights. Amil (11-0, 3-0) kept his unbeaten record intact, while Esteban Ribovics (14-2, 3-2) goes back to the drawing board. Meanwhile, Haqparast (18-5, 10-4) has won five in a row dating to September 2022.

The UFC remains in Las Vegas next Saturday for UFC 313 at T-Mobile Arena, headlined by a light heavyweight title fight between champion Alex Pereira (20-4) and Magomed Ankalaev (20-1-1).