SYDNEY – Israel Adesanya came to his teammate Kai Kara-France’s defense after Manel Kape went off on him.
Kape (18-6 MMA, 3-2 UFC) was originally scheduled to face Kara-France (24-11 MMA, 7-4 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 293 event at Qudos Bank Arena, but Kara-France was forced out due to a concussion suffered in training. Kape will face newcomer Felipe dos Santos (7-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) instead.
Kara-France was in attendance during Thursday’s UFC 293 press conference, and Kape had some harsh words towards him, which prompted middleweight champion Adesanya to intervene. Kape threw water bottles at Kara-France which kicked off the altercation.
“Unfortunately, Kai Kara-France is a b*tch,” Kape said during Thursday’s press conference. “A f*cking b*tch. He’s in front of me and you’re f*cking guilty because Sunday, this is going to be a murder because of you, you f*cking p*ssy. Afraid – you had three weeks to fight me. You little f*cking p*ssy. Look at you, you have the courage to come here. Yes! Stand up motherf*cker! Stand the f*ck up motherf*cker.”
Kape did not back down from Adesanya either, hurling insults towards “The Stylebender.” An entertained Tai Tuivasa who was in the middle tried to calm things down, as well as Sean Strickland who chimed in.
“What do you want?” Kape turned to a standing Adesanya. “Sit the f*ck down… Shut your mouth. Your f*cking porn cartoon addiction.”
You can watch their full exchange in the video above.
UFC 293 takes place Saturday at Qudos Bank Arena. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPNews/ESPN+ and early prelims on ESPN+.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 293.
