Manel Kape biography: 13 things about UFC fighter born in Luanda, Angola

Who is Manel Kape?

Professionally known as Manel Kape, Manuel Pedro Gomes is a Portuguese-Angolan professional mixed martial artist based in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. His fight name is Starboy and he is 5’6″ tall.

Born in Luanda, Angola, Kape is a citizen of both Angola and Portugal. He previously lived in Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal.

Currently, Kape is signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, which is based in Las Vegas. Before joining the UFC, he competed in Cage Fighters, Knock Out Championship, Invictus Pro MMA League, Ansgar Fighting League, International Pro Combat and Rizin Fighting Federation.

Kape and Julia Kukharchuk have one daughter together. Here are 13 more things about him:

1. He holds a professional MMA record of 22 wins and 7 losses.
2. From 2012 to 2014, he competed in the flyweight division.
3. On May 13, 2012, he made his professional MMA debut.
4. In 2014, Kukharchuk became his coach.
5. From 2014 to 2019, he competed in the bantamweight division.
6. On April 18, 2015, he became the KOC Bantamweight Champion.
7. He went on hiatus in 2016 and 2020.
8. From 2017 to 2019, he fought nine Rizin FF opponents.
9. On December 31, 2019, he became the Rizin FF Bantamweight Champion.
10. On February 6, 2021, he made his UFC debut and went back to the flyweight division.
11. In February 2022, Kukharchuk gave birth to their daughter Amy Kape.
12. On September 7, 2023, he and Israel Adesanya had a heated altercation at the “UFC 293” pre-fight press conference in Australia.
13. On November 14, 2024, he turned 31.

Manel Kape’s professional MMA career timeline

From 2012 to 2025, Manel Kape fought 29 professional MMA opponents. Here are the results:

2012

• On May 13, 2012, he defeated Artur Gomes via technical knockout at “Cage Fighters 2” in Matosinhos, Portugal.
• On November 4, 2012, he defeated Renato Ferreira via TKO at “Cage Fighters: Challengers Norte 1” in Matosinhos.

2013

• On February 3, 2013, he submitted Ricardo Teixeira at “Cage Fighters: Challengers Norte 2” in Matosinhos, Portugal.
• On July 28, 2013, he defeated Marco Santos via unanimous decision at “Cage Fighters 3” in Matosinhos.

2014

• On April 5, 2014, Souksavanh Khampasath submitted him at “KOC 7” in Cognac, France.
• On July 27, 2014, he knocked out Hicham Rachid at “Invictus Pro MMA League 1” in Porto, Portugal.
• On November 29, 2014, he submitted Daniel Barez at “Ansgar Fighting League 2” in Madrid, Spain.
• On December 19, 2014, he submitted Miguel Valverde at “Invictus Pro MMA League 2” in Porto.

2015

• On April 18, 2015, he submitted Antoine Gallinaro at “KOC 8” in Cognac.
• On April 27, 2015, he defeated Francisco Javier Asprilla via TKO at “International Pro Combat 7” in Lisbon, Portugal.

2016

2017

• At the 2017 Rizin Bantamweight Grand-Prix in Saitama, Japan, he defeated Erson Yamamoto in the first round on October 15, 2017 and Ian McCall in the quarterfinal on December 29, 2017 but he lost to Kyoji Horiguchi in the semifinals on December 31, 2017.

2018

• On May 6, 2018, he lost to Kai Asakura via split decision at “Rizin 10” in Fukuoka, Japan.
• On September 30, 2018, he defeated Yusaku Nakamura via technical submission at “Rizin 13” in Saitama.
• On December 31, 2018, he lost to Ulka Sasaki via unanimous decision at “Rizin 14” in Saitama.

2019

• On April 21, 2019, he defeated Seiichiro Ito via TKO at “Rizin 15” in Yokohama, Japan.
• On August 18, 2019, he knocked out Takeya Mitzugaki at “Rizin 18” in Nagoya, Japan.
• On December 31, 2019, he defeated Kai Asakura via TKO at “Rizin 20” in Saitama.

2020

2021

• On February 6, 2021, he lost to Alexadre Pantoja via unanimous decision at “UFC Vegas 18” in Enterprise, Nevada.
• On March 13, 2021, he lost to Matheus Nicolau via split decision at “UFC Vegas 21” in Enterprise.
• On August 7, 2021, he knocked out Ode’ Osbourne at “UFC 265” in Houston, Texas, USA.
• On December 4, 2021, he defeated Zhalgas Zhumalgov via TKO at “UFC Vegas 44” in Enterprise.

2022

• On December 17, 2022, he defeated David Dvořák via unanimous decision at “UFC Vegas 66” in Enterprise.

2023

• On September 9, 2023, he defeated Felipe dos Santos via unanimous decision at “UFC 293” in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

2024

• On July 27, 2024, he defeated Muhammad Mokaev via unanimous decision at “UFC 304” in Manchester, England, United Kingdom.
• On December 14, 2024, he defeated Bruno Gustavo da Silva via TKO at “UFC on ESPN 63” in Tampa, Florida, USA.

2025

• On March 1, 2025, he defeated Asu Almabayev via TKO at “UFC Vegas 103” in Enterprise.