Manel Kape Takes No. 1 Ranking From Pantoja and Calls Out Joshua Van
Manel Kape climbs to the top of the flyweight rankings after UFC 331, then immediately challenges champion Joshua Van.
Manel Kape has officially replaced Alexandre Pantoja at the top of the UFC flyweight rankings following last weekend's UFC 331 card in Los Angeles, and he is wasting no time lobbying for a title shot.
The updated UFC Meta Rankings, which use a mathematical model rather than traditional media voting, bumped Kape up one spot to No. 1 after Pantoja's unanimous decision loss to champion Joshua Van. Pantoja, who held the top contender position for months, slid to No. 2 in the reshuffle.
Kape is riding a four-fight winning streak, all finishes, and made his case on social media immediately after Van's title defense. Per The Body Lock, the Portuguese finisher posted: "The perfect style for me to paint a masterpiece," targeting Van for the next flyweight title fight.
Van, who won all five rounds on one judge's scorecard in his defense against Pantoja, was honest about his own performance afterward. "I gotta plenty of work to do," Van said. "I shouldn't be getting touched like this."
BetOnline has already installed Kape as the -160 favorite over Van at +140 should the fight materialize, giving the challenger a 61.5 percent implied probability. Pantoja himself has publicly stated that Kape "100 percent" deserves the next crack at the belt, per MiddleEasy.
Elsewhere in the rankings update, Joanderson Brito surged four spots to No. 11 at featherweight, Joaquin Buckley moved up to No. 8 at welterweight, and Marlon Vera returned to the bantamweight rankings at No. 12.
Kape at No. 1 is the right call and it is overdue. Four straight finishes, and even Pantoja is saying he deserves the shot. When the guy you just replaced is endorsing you, the UFC has no excuse to look elsewhere.
The number that jumps out is BetOnline opening Kape as a -160 favorite over the champion. That is the market telling you it does not fully buy Joshua Van yet, and Van basically agreed after the fight when he said he should not be getting touched like that. Honest, but not what you want to hear from your champ heading into a fight with the most dangerous finisher in the division.
I think Kape is the right price. Van has the youth and the engine, but Kape's power at 125 is a different animal, and a guy who keeps getting touched will eventually get touched by the wrong hand. Book it for early 2027 and let Kape paint.
