TLDR
- Manel Kape defeated Kyoji Horiguchi via third-round TKO at UFC Vegas 119 on June 20, 2026
- Horiguchi was winning the fight until Kape landed a counter right hand that led to the knockout finish
- The victory avenged Kape’s 2017 submission loss to Horiguchi at a RIZIN event
- Horiguchi posted on Twitter that he plans to return quickly and hasn’t given up on his championship dream
- Kape has now won seven of his last eight fights and appears in line for a potential flyweight title shot
Sources: mmafighting.com | ufc.com | mmafighting.com
Manel Kape scored a dramatic comeback knockout victory over Kyoji Horiguchi in the main event of UFC Vegas 119 on Saturday night at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas. The fight ended at 2:42 of the third round after referee Herb Dean stopped the contest.
Horiguchi appeared to be in control of the flyweight bout through the first two rounds and into the third. But Kape landed a perfectly-timed counter right hand that changed everything in an instant.
The punch caught Horiguchi clean and sent him stumbling backward on unsteady legs. Horiguchi fell face-first to the canvas as Kape rushed forward to finish the fight.
The Finishing Sequence
Kape unleashed a barrage of follow-up punches as Horiguchi tried to recover. One final punch landed flush and flattened the Japanese fighter completely, forcing Dean to wave off the bout.
Horiguchi briefly protested the stoppage but later accepted the result. The 35-year-old posted his first statement on Twitter the following day.
IS A TITLE FIGHT NEXT?!@ManelKape let the people know he is coming for gold with a huge victory!
[ #UFCVegas119 | LIVE NOW on @ParamountPlus ] pic.twitter.com/icbqogCF7m
— UFC (@ufc) June 21, 2026
“Thank you all for your support. I got spectacularly knocked out,” Horiguchi wrote in Japanese. “I’m truly sorry. Kape was strong.”
The loss marked Horiguchi’s first defeat since returning to the UFC in November 2025. He had won both of his fights after coming back to the promotion.
Avenging a Previous Loss
The victory allowed Kape to avenge his loss to Horiguchi from their first meeting in December 2017. Horiguchi submitted Kape with a third-round arm-triangle choke at that RIZIN event in Japan.
Kape entered UFC Vegas 119 riding a three-fight winning streak. The Angolan fighter has now won seven of his last eight bouts and appears positioned for a potential title shot.
Horiguchi made it clear he plans to return to action quickly. “I’ll retrain and be back in no time! I’m not giving up on my dream yet,” he wrote in his statement.
Navajo Stirling Stays Undefeated After Surviving Submission Attempts at UFC Vegas 119
The former UFC title challenger now holds a record of 36-6 with one no contest. He has gone 7-1 with one no contest in his past eight fights, with all but one taking place at flyweight.
Horiguchi’s only previous UFC loss came against Demetrious Johnson in a flyweight title fight in 2015. Johnson is widely considered the greatest 125-pound fighter in MMA history.
The co-main event featured Navajo Stirling defeating Ion Cutelaba via second-round TKO at 3:23. Christian Rodriguez submitted Hyder Amil with a guillotine choke in the first round of their bout.
Murtazali Magomedov made a successful UFC debut by submitting Melsik Baghdasaryan with a rare twister submission just 1:17 into the first round. Vinicius Oliveira stopped veteran Andre Fili with a second-round TKO at 4:56.
Kape’s knockout victory over Horiguchi served as the most dramatic finish on the UFC Vegas 119 card. The win improved Kape’s standing in the flyweight division and kept his championship aspirations alive.
