“This is a perfect scenario for the rematch and revenge,” Kape told UFC.com. “Back in the time nine years ago, I was a young kid, only training with my brother, my cousin, and we faced a guy with a big team behind him, already been all these experiences in the UFC. Looking back at that time, we did a helluva job with him; I think it was the hardest fight the had in Rizin. No resources, only me, hungry to face a guy with everything he had, but I have now even more. Now it’s equal. If without nothing I did what I did to him and (eventually) became a champion, imagine right now? I’m a different fighter. It’s a perfect scenario to get revenge.When we fought, he then fought for the title, for the finals, and now is the (same thing). Whoever wins is gonna fight for the title. It’s very beautiful. God wrote these plans, and right now, we’re equal.”

“The revenge is a sweet thing, but my head is not that way; my head is focused on my goal to fight for the title, be champion,” Kape added. “No one has been doing better than me. I think my last three fights have fascinated all the division, the company — I’ve been delivering a spectacular show — and I’m the ambassador of this division. It has to be me. But right now, I’m not predicting nothing about this. I’m focused, and I’m optimistic on my victory. I have a strong belief I’m gonna knock this guy out. I’ve been knocking people out and this time isn’t going to be different.”

Kape was submitted by Horiguchi in the final round of Rizin’s Bantamweight World Grand Prix Tournament back in late 2017. That was roughly nine years ago and both fighters are clearly very different athletes at this stage of their respective combat sports careers. Kape has won seven of his last eight with five blistering knockouts while Horiguchi is riding an eight-fight unbeaten streak with three submissions. I don’t know if that’s enough to make anyone care about this fight card, simply because it has the misfortune — along with this overseas snoozer — of being sandwiched between UFC White House and UFC 329, featuring the return of Conor McGregor. To be fair, fans never really cared about the flyweight division anyway, to the point where UFC almost shuttered it altogether, but this will still prove to be a fun fight for however long it lasts. Something tells me we won’t be needing all five rounds for this long-awaited do-over. “He has a lot of confidence right now,” Horiguchi told UFC.com. “He used to be more natural in his movement. But now he has technique, and that’s a big difference. It’s a different preparation. He’s a very different fighter. He likes striking, so he will come in (looking to) strike, of course. He’s not the same opponent. It’s like a new opponent. And also, he has good striking and good takedown defense, so I’ll focus on mixing up everything and using everything. Then I will finish him.”