Manel Kape says Joshua Van title fight will be 'too easy,' like Anderson Silva vs Forrest Griffin

Manel Kape says his UFC flyweight title fight with champion Joshua Van will be "too easy." Speaking with Daniel Cormier on an episode of the Daniel Cormier Show released this week, the flyweight contender said he is next in line for Van's belt, expects the fight in January 2027 and predicted it would look like Anderson Silva's lopsided knockout of Forrest Griffin.

The bout has not been officially announced by the UFC. Kape (23-7 MMA, 8-3 UFC) told Cormier he is the No. 1 contender, according to MMA Junkie, but no date or venue has been confirmed.

'He's going to be very slow'

Kape said his speed would be the difference against Van (18-2 MMA, 11-1 UFC).

"I know the power that I possess. I know the skill I possess," Kape told Cormier. "When I say this fight is going to be too easy, it's going to be too easy. He's going to be very slow. The way he throws the punches is going to be slow to me. This fight is going to be like Anderson Silva against Forrest Griffin. I apologize: I love Forrest Griffin, but it's going to be like this. That's the fight I really see. That's the levels I see I'm above him."

Silva knocked Griffin out in the first round at UFC 101 in 2009. Cormier pushed back on the comparison during the interview, as MiddleEasy noted.

Kape also suggested that his last opponent would beat the champion. "Remember these words. We will find out," he said. "I just beat the most difficult fighter in our division. Kyoji is going to be there again. This guy is a different animal. You need to be very, very smart to fight this guy. You need to have knowledge. You need to have strategy to beat a karate guy like him. If it was Van against Kyoji, Kyoji would put him to sleep in the first round. That's the way I see it. I know the levels of this game."

January target and an old dispute

According to MiddleEasy, Kape said he believes the fight will happen in January and that December would be too early. He also denied turning down an earlier fight with Van. In his account, he agreed to a weight check at the UFC Performance Institute after the Harrison vs Nunes cancellation, believed he could make weight, and then heard nothing more. That is Kape's version of events, and the UFC has not confirmed that a formal offer was made.

Van and Kape traded barbs last month, MMA Junkie reported, with the champion taking aim at Kape's past weight misses. Despite the trash talk, Kape credited Van for his toughness and activity as champion. He also called out Kai Kara-France as an opponent he wants after he wins the belt. The two were set to meet at UFC 293 in Australia before Kara-France withdrew with a concussion.

How they got here

Kape earned his place with a four-fight winning streak, all stoppages. The latest came at UFC Vegas 119 on June 20, when he stopped Kyoji Horiguchi by TKO at 2:42 of the third round after a difficult start. The win avenged Kape's December 2017 submission loss to Horiguchi in RIZIN.

The two men's paths have crossed before. Kape was originally scheduled to face Brandon Royval in June 2025 but withdrew with a broken foot. Van stepped in, beat Royval and went on to win the title from Alexandre Pantoja, whose arm injury ended their first fight just 26 seconds into the first round. Kape later finished Royval in the first round in December.

Van, 24, has defended the belt twice in 2026, first by finishing Tatsuro Taira and then by beating Pantoja in a rematch at UFC 331 in Los Angeles on September 19. That fight went the full five rounds, and Van won a unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 50-45) after scoring a knockdown in the final round.

If the UFC makes Van vs Kape official, it would cap a long chase for a shot at a belt that Kape once looked set to fight for in 2025 before injury handed his place to Van.