Over three rounds. Pantoja was just much more active on the feet as he was relentless with his attacks while Kape seemed really hesitant to let his hands go. That obviously hurt him when it came time to hand down the decision as the judges scored the fight 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27 for Pantoja, who moves to 3-2 in his past five fights with the win at UFC Vegas 18.
“This guy’s so good,” Pantoja said about Kape following his win. “When they matchmake this fight, I really appreciated it. I want to fight with the best guys. This guy’s a high level striker and I want to prove I’m a striker, too.”
A quick start from Pantoja combined with some possible octagon jitters had Kape moving a lot on his feet but failing to really produce much offense in the early going. Pantoja continued to stalk Kape around the cage as the former RIZIN standout tried to find his footing in his debut.
Pantoja was definitely more active on the feet, which allowed him to connect with better strikes but Kape started to let his hands and feet go as time ticked away into the second round. Unfortunately, Kape’s biggest problem is that he was reacting more to what Pantoja was doing rather than setting up his own combinations.
Neither fighter was really doing enough damage to truly sway the scorecards so both Pantoja and Kape had to do something in order to secure the victory. Pantoja answered that call with a nasty head kick and a blistering counter punch while Kape’s speedy combinations started to find a home on the Brazilian’s chin.
Still, Pantoja’s output was just that much higher than anything Kape produced over three rounds and it was enough for the judges to hand the former Ultimate Fighter contender the decision.
A constant threat in the top 10 at flyweight, Pantoja continues to prove he’s going to be a tough out for anybody at 125 pounds including a debuting fighter looking to make an immediate impact.
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