Manel Kape appears to be bidding farewell to Rizin. The recently crowned bantamweight champion shared a lengthy Instagram post in Japanese in which he suggests his time with the promotion is at an end.
Here is the Angolan’s Instagram post:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B9lw99PF1bG/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Kape does not specifically state that he is a free agent, or has signed with another promotion. Instead he thanks Rizin for changing his life, pledges to always represent Japan and says he hopes to fight in the country again in the future.
Kape became the bantamweight champion when he stopped Kai Asakura at Rizin 20. With Kyoji Horiguchi injured and Tenshin Nasukawa tied up with Muay Thai and kickboxing commitments that makes him one of the promotion’s biggest stars.
Hiromasa Ogikubo was reported to be next in line for Kape and it seems unlikely that Nobuyuki Sakakibara would have been careless enough to allow his contract to expire.
Perhaps the Instagram post was intended as a warning shot to the promotion ahead of a new contract negotiation. But his status as a champion with a 15-4 record would make Kape an attractive signing for the UFC, ONE Championship or Bellator.
It will be interesting to see whether Kape can make good on his pledge to leave Japan behind and start a new career elsewhere, or if the 26 year old ends up defending his title against Ogikubo in the coming months as expected.
