A rematch nearly nine years in the making headlines tonight’s UFC Vegas 119 fight card from the Meta Apex in Las Vegas. In the main event of tonight’s fight card, Manel Kape meets Kyoji Horiguchi for the second time. The two first fought under the Rizin banner in 2017. Horiguchi won that contest via third-round submission. Here is everything you need to know to watch or stream tonight’s UFC Vegas 119 fight card.
UFC Vegas 119 Main Card
Manel Kape vs. Kyoji Horiguchi
Ion Cuțelaba vs. Navajo Stirling
Hyder Amil vs. Christian Rodriguez
Melsik Baghdasaryan vs. Murtazali Magomedov
Andre Fili vs. Vinicius Oliveira
UFC Vegas 119 Main Event: Manel Kape vs. Kyoji Horiguchi
Manel Kape (22-7) signed with the UFC in March 2020. He was coming off a December 2019 win over Kai Asakura, which earned Kape the Rizin bantamweight title. Kape did not make his promotional debut until February 2021 because of an injury to his opponent in his first booking and his next fight being canceled after his opponent (Pantoja) withdrew because of COVID-19.
When Kape and Pantoja faced off in February 2021, Pantoja won via unanimous decision. Looking to rebound from that loss, Kape took the opportunity for a quick turnaround, stepping in as a late replacement against Nicolau in March 2021. That plan backfired, as Nicolau won via split decision.
Kape rebounded from an 0-2 start to his UFC career with four straight victories, beating Ode’ Osbourne (knockout), Zhalgas Zhumagulov (TKO), David Dvořák (decision), and Felipe dos Santos.
His winning streak ended in July 2024 with a decision loss to Muhammed Mokaev at UFC 304.
Kape bounced back from that loss with a December TKO win over Bruno Silva.
After his win over Silva, Kape requested a title fight against Pantoja.
“(Expletive) Kai Kara-France,” Kape said. “(Expletive) Moreno. (Expletive) [Israel] Adesanya. I’m the next one against Pantoja. I’m the one who can destroy Pantoja. Dana put me in a fight against Pantoja. I’m the new PPV star at flyweight. No one can be like me. I’m terrific. I’m the best.”
UFC CEO Dana White shut down that talk at the post-fight press conference, “He said, ‘You know why, this, that, etc.’ And I said, ‘Well, let’s finish this one first. You’ve got five more minutes.’ So, he went out, and he did it. No, he’s not getting a title shot, but we’ll definitely give him what he’s looking for,” said White.
Kape then went on to defeat Asu Almabayev via TKO in March 2025. In his most recent outing, Kape knocked out former UFC flyweight title challenger Brandon Royval in December. He is the No. 2 ranked fighter in the UFC’s flyweight rankings.
Kyoji Horiguchi (36-5-0-1) is in his second stint with the UFC. He first joined the promotion in 2013 after winning and defending the Shooto bantamweight title. During his initial run with the promotion, Horiguchi was 7-1 with his only loss being an April 2015 submission setback to then-flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson at UFC 186.
Horiguchi left the UFC in 2016, he spoke to BJ Penn Radio via a translator about that decision.
“If we look at the UFC at that time, Kyoji could have two fights a year,” Horiguchi said via translator. “[In Rizin] they only have four or five shows a year, but [they] said that they could commit to use Kyoji for all of those events. So think about it. Two fights in UFC versus four fights in Rizin. He did more than four fights last year.”
“The offer [itself] was good, but also the number of fights. If you look at the [big picture], it’s much easier for us to promote Kyoji, and also easier to get the sponsorship because sponsorship was also limited in UFC.”
Horiguchi returned to the promotion in 2025. He is 2-0 since. Horiguchi is coming off a February 2026 decision win over Amir Albazi. He is ranked No. 5 in the division.
We will have more on UFC Vegas 119 on fight night.
