Asu Almabayev left the Octagon with more than just his first UFC loss on Saturday night.
Almabayev clashed with Manel Kape in the evening’s main event on just a few weeks’ notice after Kape’s original opponent Brandon Royval bowed out of the bout. Almabayev walked into the fight on an impressive 17-fight win streak, but it was ‘Starboy’ who would come out on top, handily defeating the Kazakh and earning himself a third-round TKO.
However, the win did come with a heap of controversy after Kape inadvertently poked Almabayev in the eye during the opening rounds and then appeared to scrape his opponent’s eye multiple times before the stoppage came.
On Tuesday, a picture of Almabayev’s injured eye popped up Instagram and it’s not a pretty sight.
Muhammad Mokaev reacts to kape’s controversial win over almabayev
It’s far from the first time that Kape has found himself at the center of controversy. Throughout his career, ‘Starboy’ has been accused of poking eyes and delivering low blows. He even got into a few pre-fight brawls with Muhammad Mokaev before the two stepped inside the Octagon in July.
Reacting to Kape’s latest win, Mokaev labeled the Angolan a “dirty fighter.”
“Dirty fighter. Popped on steroids. Eye poked and didn’t even stopped, when I eyed poked you I stoped and let you recover!” Mokaev posted on X. “I apologised for whatever happened between us and I thought it ended but you still talking s— about me in every interview! because live in your head, I beat you not even in my prime and pull your pants down in front of the whole world!
“And you will be my son for rest of life!”
Mokaev defeated Kape via unanimous decision before being promptly cut by the UFC.
