LAS VEGAS – Mateusz Nicolaou has his sights set on a shot at the UFC flyweight title, and Manel Kape can no longer stop on his journey.
Nicolaou (19-4-1 MMA, 7-2 UFC) will headline this Saturday's UFC Apex on ESPN 55 (ESPN, ESPN+) against former title challenger Alex Perez. This will be Nicolaou's first fight in a year as Kape was unable to enter the cage due to a pair of bookings. Fortunately, Perez (24-8 MMA, 6-4 UFC) stepped up as his replacement.
“The moment we heard the news of Manel's departure, we were frustrated,” Nicolau told reporters at Wednesday's media day. “I've been thinking about him since last year, and the game was at the beginning of January, so I started preparing around November or December.
“In that moment, you're going to get frustrated and worry, 'Oh, my fight's going to be postponed?'” Will my fight be cancelled? Are they going to get another opponent? Who will they fight? Does he have a rank or not? But I ended my fight with Alex on the same day, so that was good and I quickly changed my mind. I was already focused on Alex. ”
Nicolaou and Kape were scheduled to have a rematch in January, but “Starboy” was 3.5 pounds underweight and the bout was canceled. The first meeting, held in March 2021, resulted in a split opinion and the decision went in Nicolaou's direction. It was scheduled to take place again on April 27, but a rib injury forced Cape to withdraw earlier in the month.
“The good thing was that it was about four weeks before the fight, so I had enough time to adjust everything, the training, the strategy part, the technical part,” Nicolaou said. “So we had plenty of time to make all the necessary adjustments and prepare for the win.”
The winner of the main event of UFC on ESPN 55 will likely be the next man to get a shot at the title he currently holds. Steve Arseg will have the chance to become the new champion in the main event of UFC 301 on May 4th in Brazil.
Nicolaou believes the timing of the main event is good, with the title fight following next weekend giving the winner solid momentum to earn No. 1 contender status. If he wins, Nicolau will happily fly to Rio de Janeiro and stand cageside in the main event without worrying about Manel Cape.
“To be honest, after the game I look up,” Nicolau said. “That's the direction I'm going, to the top of the mountain. I don't want to think about Manel anymore.”
For more information on this card, visit MMA Junkie's UFC event hub on ESPN 55.
The story originally appeared on MMA Junkie
