This is one of the more interesting fights on the card, as the
winner walks away with the best victory of his UFC career. It was
good to see Kape turn things around in the back half of 2021, as
the beginning of his UFC run was frustratingly unsuccessful. Kape
was signed by the UFC when he was the Rizin Fighting Federation
bantamweight champion, having set himself apart thanks to a nuclear
level of athleticism and power as a knockout artist. “Starboy” was
rightfully thrown into the deep end of the UFC’s flyweight division
against Alexandre
Pantoja, and it was a disheartening defeat. Kape essentially
waited things out and attempted to pick his spot for a knockout
that never game, essentially giving away the fight with his
low-output approach. Kape then attempted to wash away that
performance by stepping in as a late replacement against Matheus
Nicolau five weeks later, but it was much the same thing. Kape
could not find a finish and suddenly found himself on the fringes
of the UFC roster. Fortunately, Kape spent the rest of the year
reminding everyone why he had so much hype in the first place,
scoring some brutal first-round knockouts of Ode
Osbourne and Zhalgas
Zhumagulov. However, 2022 has essentially been a lost year,
with injuries to Kape and his opponents leaving him out of action
until this fight against Dvorak. A standout of his native Czech
scene, Dvorak has impressed through his four UFC fights to date,
particularly since “The Undertaker” did not come to the promotion
with much in the way of expectations. Dvorak outpaced his first few
UFC opponents with a movement-heavy style built around pressure and
countering before running into Nicolau in March, struggling against
the rare opponent who was technically sharper than his usual
standard. Dvorak should take the lead in terms of pace here, but it
will be interesting to see how much he decides to flirt with danger
by attempting to draw out and counter Kape’s high-powered offense.
It is an approach with which Dvorak could find some success, but
the main issue is that one false move could put him at huge risk of
suffering a knockout loss. The lean is that Kape can find
something, but this is a well-matched fight that should serve as a
huge proof of concept for the winner. The pick is Kape via
second-round knockout.
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