A flyweight showdown pitting ex-Rizin champ Manel Kape
against Alexandre
Pantoja has been rebooked for a
UFC Fight Night card on Feb. 6.
Combate
was first to report the news. The event is headlined by a
heavyweight scrap between Alistair
Overeem and Alexander
Volkov. A location for the card has not been formally
announced. Kape and Pantoja were initially slated to meet at UFC
Fight Night 183 on Dec. 19 before Pantoja withdrew from the
contest.
Kape claimed the vacant Rizin bantamweight crown with a
second-round technical knockout of Kai Asakura
last New Year’s Eve. The 26-year-old AKA Thailand representative
has won four of his last five professional outings — with each of
those victories coming inside the distance. Kape was previously
slated to make his promotional debut against Rogerio
Bontorin at UFC 252 before his opponent withdrew from the bout
due to injury.
Pantoja, meanwhile, is coming off a unanimous decision loss to
Askar
Askarov at UFC Fight Night 172 on July 18. Prior to that
defeat, “The Cannibal” had been victorious in four of his previous
five Octagon appearances.