Kape dismisses Strickland social media feud as gym rivals prepare to share mats again

Manel Kape is unconcerned about sharing a gym with Sean Strickland despite a sharp social media exchange between the two UFC fighters that erupted in the days following Kape’s knockout victory over Kyoji Horiguchi at UFC Vegas 119.

The dispute began when Strickland, the UFC middleweight champion, publicly insulted Kape’s manager Ali Abdelaziz before escalating into accusations that the flyweight contender had been cheating. Kape fired back, calling out Strickland for talking aggressively online while failing to confront Abdelaziz when the two were in the same room, and accused the middleweight of “acting like a tough guy” rather than being one.

“There is nothing,” Kape told MMA Fighting. “Some people just talk a lot and we have to put people in their place. It doesn’t matter what weight class. Some people we have to show who’s the true people. Who is the bully and who is not the bully. People confuse sometimes weight with confidence. It’s nothing.”

The tension carries an added layer given that both fighters train at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas under head coach Eric Nicksick, meaning their paths are likely to cross again on the mats. Kape, however, insists there is no lasting animosity.

“He wants attention. He loves attention,” Kape said. “This kind of stuff. We’re built different. We’re built different and some people deserves some answers that put them in their place. That’s what I want to say. But we’re all good. We’re all men. We all handle the things we should handle. Our way.”

This is not the first time Kape has found himself in a verbal confrontation with a fighter from a higher weight class. Several years ago he clashed publicly with then-middleweight champion Israel Adesanya after Adesanya’s teammate Kai Kara-France withdrew from a scheduled bout with Kape through injury. That dispute, like this one, did not escalate beyond words.

An immediate rematch of the social media spat on the gym floor appears unlikely in the short term. Kape is taking time off after his latest fight, while Strickland has left Las Vegas for Florida, where he is working at American Top Team to assist Johnny Eblen ahead of Eblen’s PFL title fight. Kape has trained alongside Strickland before and does not expect the online friction to create problems when they eventually share the mats again.