Zhalgas Zhumagulov vs Manel Kape: Zhalgas will outlast and win on points

On the night of December 5, in Las Vegas, another UFC tournament will occur. In one of the preliminary card fights, Zhalgas Zhumagulov will meet the representative of Angola, Manel Kape.

None of the fighters is in the top-15 official challenger rankings.

The fighter from Kazakhstan started his journey in the UFC with two losses, but in his last fight, he was able to get his first win in the organization, choking out Jerome Rivera in the first round.

Now Zhalgas will build on his success in a fight against the extremely aggressive AKA Thailand Hall of Famer Manel Kape.

Zhumagulov is expected to be the underdog, but only because he has had a poor start to his UFC career and is not well known to the American public. In his last fight, he partially rehabilitated himself, but Rivera is not a good fighter either. It would help if you had a better argument. Kape is the real deal. He’s aggressive, talkative, and monotonous in the octagon but very intense. Zhalgas has enough intelligence and technical skills not to get involved in exchanges but to dry the fight and take it on points.

Kape came to the UFC from Rizin (where, by the way, he lost regularly), and just like Zhumagulov, he started in the top league with two losses, but in his last fight, he knocked out Odie Osborn with a knee. By the way, Osborn (7-4, in UFC 2-2) is far from a legend either.

But Manel is confident in his abilities, even overly so:

Zhumagulov was once very good, but not now. This fight will be very difficult for him in all aspects. Firstly I am younger than him, faster. I have more early wins. I’m competing at the lightest weight, and my knockout rate as a super heavyweight is ten out of 16. I don’t know who else in the division can do that. I also have better jiu-jitsu, more submissions. Also, I have strong cardio - I can easily go five rounds. I don’t think he can go even three rounds. I don’t want to underestimate him, but I think this is the easiest fight the UFC has ever given me. I’m 100% sure I’ll knock him out in the second round.

Manel Kape

Kape will try to finish quickly, Zhumagulov will try to survive the first round and tighten the fight. So much for intrigue. The Angolan’s aggression can also backfire on him. Zhalgas is no Osborn. He’s not going to stand with his hands down and wait for the punch. He’s a tenacious, patient fighter. He can defend against not the toughest fighter in the league. He may well be able to catch him on the counter, so his chances are not bad. There’s no question about his functionality either, no matter what Manel says. Rather, there are questions for him.

Analysts see Kape as the favourite, which, in general, is to the bettor’s advantage. The odds on the Kazakhstani is 3.00, which is what we’ll take.