Matheus Nicolau-Manel Kape Rematch Rescheduled as UFC on ESPN 55 Headliner

A key flyweight fight for the Ultimate Fighting Championship will serve as a main attraction in April.

First reported by MMA Mania on Thursday evening, Matheus Nicolau (19-3-1) will run it back with Manel Kape (19-6) atop UFC on ESPN 55 on April 27. The flyweights will handle unfinished business at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, in a bout previously booked in January. News of this pairing has since been confirmed by multiple outlets.

> The first fight between Nicolau and Kape came on the main card of UFC Fight Night 187 in 2021. The Brazilian emerged victorious by extremely close split decision, one in which every scoring media member saw Kape winning. Part two was set to take place on UFC Fight Night 234, but Kape exceeded the flyweight limit by nearly four pounds and Nicolau refused the fight.

Beating Kape was part of a four-fight win streak in the Octagon that catapulted Nicolau to the top of the flyweight division. In a title eliminator, Nicolau succumbed to a vicious knee and follow-up elbows from Brandon Royval to lose his first fight since 2018. This marks the second stint for the Nova Uniao fighter, who went 3-1 and recorded an ultra-rare Japanese Necktie submission before leaving in 2018 to test his mettle in Brazil again.

Since losing to Nicolau, “Starboy” has rattled off four victories, including two first-round knockouts of Ode Osbourne and Zhalgas Zhumagulov. Kape has averaged just one fight a year the last few years, due to a myriad of reasons ranging from Kape missing weight to opponent illness and injury. As a pro, the Angolan sports a finish rate of 84%, far higher than his adversary’s 52%.

UFC on ESPN 55 will go down at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, with Nicolau-Kape 2 serving as its main event. The remainder of the lineup has not yet been set, but other significant matches include a lightweight tilt between Joel Alvarez and Mateusz Rebecki, and a flyweight scrap pitting Karine Silva against Ariane Lipski.