UFC Vegas 119 results: Manel Kape stuns Kyoji Horiguchi with revenge knockout; newcomer scores fastest twister in UFC history

Manel Kape may be the most dangerous man in the flyweight division.

>The surging contender continued his hot streak Saturday at the Meta Apex, knocking out former RIZIN rival Kyoji Horiguchi with a flurry of third-round punches in the main event of UFC Vegas 119. With the win, Kape not only extends his division-best streak of four straight knockouts, he also avenges a 2017 defeat to Horiguchi he suffered in Japan.

>“Kyoji is an amazing fighter, I think the best fighter I’ve ever fought in my life,” Kape said post-fight, showering respect on his rival of nearly a decade. “I’ve become what I’ve become because of fighting him. I want to be like him. In 2017, fighting him, I wanted to be like him, and if I’m here in this position, it’s because of Kyoji.”

>“I thought my last performance was supposed to be for the title this time,” he added, “but guess what? It was not the way it was supposed to be, but Allah gave a better plan, a better [opponent], a tougher guy than [the flyweights] at the top. I fought the best fighter in this division, the greatest fighter in this division, so I need to fight for the belt.”

After a competitive opening two rounds largely controlled by Horiguchi, Kape (23-7) broke through in the third frame by pushing an aggressive pace and forcing his Japanese rival to exchange inside phone-booth range.

>Kape, 32, ultimately dropped Horiguchi (36-6, 1 NC) with a clean counter right, then sealed the deal with a flurry of ground-and-pound strikes punctuated by a big uppercut. The win puts Kape ever closer to contention for Joshua Van’s UFC flyweight title, though former champion Alexandre Pantoja likely remains in pole position for the next shot.

>For Horiguchi, 35, the loss is his first since returning to the UFC last year. A former RIZIN two-division champion and Bellator bantamweight champion, Horiguchi defeated Tagir Ulanbekov and Amir Albazi in back-to-back UFC bouts prior to Saturday’s result.

In the evening’s co-main event, light heavyweight prospect Navajo Stirling (10-0) moved to 5-0 in the UFC with a second-round knockout of Ion Cutelaba (20-12-1, 1 NC).

>Also on the card, featherweight newcomer Murtazali Magomedov (11-0) made an impressive statement in his debut, forcing Melsik Baghdasaryan (8-4) to tap to a rarely seen twister submission in just 77 seconds — the fastest twister in UFC history.

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>Check out full UFC Vegas 119 results and highlights below.

Main cardFlyweight: Manel Kape def. Kyoji Horiguchi via TKO (punches) at 2:42 of R3 | Watch finish

>Light heavyweight: Navajo Stirling def. Ion Cutelaba via TKO (strikes) at 3:23 of R2 | Watch finish

>Featherweight: Christian Rodriguez def. Hyder Amil via submission (guillotine) at 3:43 of R1 | Watch finish

>Featherweight: Murtazali Magomedov def. Melsik Baghdasaryan via submission (twister) at 1:17 of R1 | Watch finish

>Featherweight: Vinicius Oliveira def. Andre Fili via TKO (strikes) at 4:56 of R2 | Watch finish

Preliminary card129-pound catchweight: Kevin Borjas def. Andre Lima via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

>Women’s bantamweight: Bia Mesquita def. Melissa Mullins via submission (armbar) at 3:16 of R1 | Watch finish

>Flyweight: Mitch Raposo def. Allan Nascimento via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

>Featherweight: Gaston Bolanos def. Michael Aswell via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

>Welterweight: Levan Chokheli def. Leon Shahbazyan via TKO (strikes) a :23 of R1 | Watch finish

>Women’s bantamweight: Luana Santos def. Karol Rosa via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

>Featherweight: Shane Collins def. Otari Tanzilovi via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)