Stars Align for ‘Starboy’ to Defeat Kyoji Horiguchi at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas
Winter has come and passed, with Manel Kape defeating Brandon Royval and moving one fight closer to his future title shot. Now he will walk onto the Las Vegas stage with more determination to show the men’s Flyweight Division why he should be fighting the current leader in the division’s rankings. The opponent he will face for this statement is none other than Kyoji Horiguchi. Neither opponent has faced the other before, and it’s culminating in a matchup that will define both UFC fighters’ careers with increased notoriety.
‘Starboy’ defeated Royval with a solid KO/TKO during the first round. The power demonstrated in that matchup is reflective of the strategy he employs in his standup game. His fighting strategy has led to a record of 22-7-0 and consists of 14 knockouts, making him somewhat of a knockout artist. He also comes into this fight as the younger fighter, being 32 years old. In his ground game, he has secured five submission-based wins, which would make any opponent wary of him on the ground.
The ‘Karate Kid’ is also a knockout artist like his 32-year-old opponent. Unlike his opponent, he has a more experienced record of 36-5-0, with some of it even being from submission wins, too. He has faced opponents like Kape before and has great potential to hold his ground while taking repeated strikes. His more extensive record does skew the average of his takedown defense, which is lower than ‘Starboy’. This could mean that there is a weakness in the overall armor of experience he has built since 2013, when he first started fighting for the UFC.
Current projections from the statistics point towards Horiguchi as the winner of this fight by decision. It is likely given that all of the advantages Kape brings in this fight are all the same advantages ‘Karate Kid’ has honed over his several years of fighting. The fight isn’t decided on the basis of knockouts or submission records and can be upset by other factors. These other factors that would put the rising young 32-year-old would be things like the increased reach he has over his opponent. This small factor, mixed with a likely increased defense in a takedown, could tip the scales in his victory.
The likelihood that the statistics bear fruit and give ‘Karate Kid’ the win is not to be weighed too heavily. Instead, people should embrace how Kape has the reach that will keep his opponent at bay. He even lands 5.04 more strikes per minute, which will prevent any significant lead by the older 35-year-old opponent. If Horiguchi can break ahead and land more strikes, then it is likely the statistics could come true, but it won’t happen. At the end of this fight, a star will rise and can be seen live by streaming this fight on Paramount+ at 8:00 p.m. EDT!
