UFC flyweight champion Joshua Van (18-2) will defend his belt against No. 1-ranked Manel Kape (23-7) in the UFC 336 main event at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. It is the UFC’s first card in the city since January 2024.
Van, 25, has won eight in a row and defended the title in a rematch against Alexandre Pantoja. Meanwhile, Kape, 33, has finished his last four opponents by knockout. After the official booking, he sent Van a message that included an unusual suggestion about wearing a protective helmet.
Manel Kape Tells Joshua Van to Ask UFC for a Helmet
Still more than three months left until UFC 336 takes place, but both of the flyweight fighters have already started trading barbs to hype up their main event fight. Kape recently took to X and responded to the UFC’s announcement by telling Van to fix his defense.
He wrote, “You better spend time working on that defense, kid, or ask the UFC to let u wear a helmet. You have my permission 🫡 Cuz I’m coming to do some serious damage to that pea head.”
You better spend time working on that defense, kid, or ask the UFC to let u wear a helmet. You have my permission 🫡 Cuz I’m coming to do some serious damage to that pea head.
— Manel Kape (@ManelKape) October 26, 2026
The bad blood stems back to June 2025, when a fractured foot forced Manel Kape out of a pivotal bout at UFC 317. Joshua Van stepped in as the replacement, capitalizing on the opportunity to skyrocket up the rankings. Six months later at UFC 323, Van dethroned Alexandre Pantoja via a 26-second TKO to capture the flyweight championship.
Their rivalry intensified when Kape made a viral post-fight callout telling Van, “Your daddy’s coming to take your diapers!” Kape also dismissed Joshua Van as a “punching bag” while pushing for the title fight during an interview with MMA Fighting.
He added, “To be honest, I see Joshua Van as a punching bag. For my fight, I think I only have to go to the gym and punch the bag… Of course, this punching bag is going to throw something but I’m going to avoid. Even Brandon Royval, this is a guy with a lot of volume, a lot of speed — he didn’t throw anything on me. It ain’t going to be Joshua Van who lands anything.”
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Kape has stopped Bruno Silva, Asu Almabayev, Brandon Royval, and Kyoji Horiguchi by KO or TKO in a row. In three of those four fights, he earned Performance of the Night bonuses, so he undoubtedly holds stellar momentum heading into UFC 336. With his latest streak, he holds the record for the most knockouts in UFC flyweight history with 6 KO/TKO wins.
Meanwhile, Van has three TKO wins in his last eight. He lands 8.26 significant strikes per minute to Kape’s 4.68, per AgentMMA. That makes this a classic volume boxer against a one-shot finisher. It will be interesting to see who gets the last laugh on Jan. 30.
