UFC Vegas 119 preview and predictions: Kyoji Horiguchi or Manel Kape — who wins?

Nairavoice | Jun 19, 2026 1h ago 73 0 6 min read

UFC Vegas 119 preview and predictions: Kyoji Horiguchi or Manel Kape — who wins?

It almost feels insulting to go back to the Meta Apex for UFC Vegas 119 after a historic night at UFC Freedom 250 on the White House’s South Lawn last Sunday. At the very least, hardcore fight fans are getting spoiled with a thrilling flyweight rematch.

Manel Kape and Kyoji Horiguchi are set to battle for a potential shot at UFC gold nearly a decade after their first battle in Japan. Horiguchi walked away the victor in that one, as he was beginning his legend-making run overseas. But Kape has evolved into a must-see competitor anytime he fights, and has grown significantly since that bantamweight clash.

Other than that, bright spots are few and far between for UFC Vegas 119. It’s another one-fight card, but as per usual, that one fight in the headliner is an absolute banger.

👑 UFC Vegas 119’s lineup Crown grade: D-. 👑

cdaf68b7-ec3c-4c23-89db-d152b755df2b UFC Vegas 119 preview and predictions: Kyoji Horiguchi or Manel Kape — who wins?

In terms of fight years, Horiguchi and Kape are lifetimes away from who they were in their 2017 RIZIN showdown. The circumstances for Saturday’s rematch are also vastly different, but parallels can still be drawn.

For starters, the first fight took place in a ring under the global ruleset, which scores fights as a whole rather than round-by-round. As mentioned, it was also contested at bantamweight, and was also the semifinals of RIZIN’s bantamweight grand prix that year, meaning the winner was expected to fight again in the finals later that same night — in front of 20,000-plus fans rather than some dudes and their friends in a warehouse.

Spoiler alert: Horiguchi won it all, finishing Kape in Round 3 with an arm-triangle choke before he knocked out Shintaro Ishiwatari to win the whole thing.

Kape was dropped almost immediately by a pinpoint right hand over the top. That set the tone for the rest of the fight, knowing the power Horiguchi was packing. Though their speed was nearly identical throughout, Horiguchi simply had the better timing and has displayed that in his bouts since. As a result, Kape was forced to clinch up and pursue grappling exchanges much more than one may expect after watching him in the UFC.

Size may be on Kape’s side this time around as he’s managed to fit more into the flyweight division over time. That should make it more possible for him to wrestle offensively than in their first fight, when he had next to no success. Horiguchi has always been a perpetually small human, but it’s come with the advantages of precision and speed in every facet of his game. Both men have shown championship-caliber chops when at their best, but it’s safe to say Kape has underperformed more over the years, even if his latest three-fight stretch has been a nice momentum builder.

If we’re to look at consistency and improvements over the past decade, Horiguchi is about as shining of an example as it gets. He’s been tremendous at bantamweight, but get this: In his 13 fights at flyweight, he’s only lost to Demetrious Johnson. It feels insane to say, considering Horiguchi (36-5, 1 NC) has such a crazy track record.

At age 35 or older, everyone is winning a UFC title these days. The time is now for the former multi-division RIZIN champion and former Bellator bantamweight titleholder.

The odds stun me a bit here for the co-main event of UFC Vegas 119.

What Navajo Stirling lacks in name value on his record, he makes up for in great hype and athleticism. He’s beating everyone the way he’s supposed to beat them, meaning it’s time for a step up against Moldova’s Ion Cutelaba.

Over the years, Cutelaba has been the perfect all-action gatekeeper type at light heavyweight. You know what to expect from the man who paints himself green to resemble the Hulk — and that’s oftentimes a smashing in either direction.

Stirling has been a much more patient and calculated finisher with his strikes throughout his young career, and this one presents the perfect style matchup for him to light Cutelaba up like a Christmas tree, good and early.

This has “loser leaves town” written all over it, with each man entering on two-fight losing streaks.

Hyder Amil was a promising prospect who went undefeated in his first 11 fights. At age 36, though, his time appears spent after running into more well-rounded and lethal opposition.

Christian Rodriguez doesn’t necessarily fall into the lethal category, but he is well-rounded and has been a solid spoiler in his UFC run. Just ask Austin Bashi and Raul Rosas Jr.

Essentially, youth is on Rodriguez’s side, and he’s also fought better competition.

dc42e2bd-e1e6-42f8-b757-fa09b9e2f52e UFC Vegas 119 preview and predictions: Kyoji Horiguchi or Manel Kape — who wins?

Melsik Baghdasaryan disappeared after his tough loss to Jean Silva at UFC Seattle last year. A solid prospect in his own right, Baghdasaryan gets no easy welcome-back party.

Murtazali Magomedov is the real deal. He’ll make his UFC debut after a win on Contender Series last September. The win kept his streak of finishing all his fights alive, and he’ll surely do the same against Baghdasaryan, thanks to the danger he presents everywhere a fight goes.

Baghdasaryan can offer some fun challenges on the feet for Magomedov, but in the end he’ll have too many avenues of offense to worry about coming back at him.

Here’s a wild stat for you: Andre Fili has never lost back-to-back fights in his 39-fight career. In fact, he’s alternating wins and losses more often than not, currently going back-and-forth in his previous nine. His most recent fight? A loss to Jose Miguel Delgado, which means he’s due for that sweet, sweet W again.

Unfortunately for “Touchy,” this does not look like the matchup to keep his trend alive.

Although Vinicius Oliveira was brought back down to Earth (and sent to featherweight) after his main-event loss to Mario Bautista in February, he’s still one hell of a fighter. Oliveira’s striking is unorthodox in the most concerning of ways if you’re standing across from him. A fight with Fili is tailor-made for the Brazilian to shine, thanks to Fili’s own consistent willingness to throw down.

Despite the weight change, Oliveira should be equipped to out-duel the seasoned vet.

Outside of the main event, there are only two fights featuring ranked fighters. Coincidentally, both are on the prelims — and in the women’s bantamweight division. Yes, the division isn’t good right now, but when the UFC doesn’t care about it, the viewers aren’t going to either.

With that said, you should care about the rising submission wizard Beatriz Mesquita. Strangely, the matchmakers misplaced these two fights, as Mesquita should be getting a better test like Karol Rosa instead of Melissa Mullins, who takes on Luana Santos.