Ryan Wohl gives his picks for Saturday’s UFC Fight Night, headlined by Manel Kape vs. Kyoji Horiguchi.
Six days after hosting their marquee event at the White House, the UFC returns to the Meta Apex in Las Vegas for a Fight Night. Saturday’s UFC Fight Night is headlined by No. 2 Manel Kape vs. No. 5 Kyoji Horiguchi. The Main Card for this event begins on Paramount+ at 8:00 p.m. ET.
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Check out my favorite fighters to add to your daily fantasy lineup for Saturday’s UFC Fight Night event.
Navajo Stirling, 28, is 9-0 with five knockouts and is 4-0 in the UFC. Stirling is from City Boxing, the legendary MMA gym in Auckland, New Zealand. His teammate is the current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, Carlos Ulberg. Stirling knocked out Bruno Lopes in his previous contest in March.
Stirling has the toughest test of his career in front of him with Ion Cutelaba, who is a 10-year UFC veteran. Cutelaba is coming off a first-round submission against Oumar Sy in March. Stirling has a four-inch reach advantage (79″ vs. 75″) and is three inches taller (6’4″ vs. 6’1″) than Cutelaba.
In two of Stirling’s previous three contests, he has scored at least 107 fantasy points and is coming off a 113-point outing against Lopes. Although Stirling is the fourth-most expensive fighter on this card, he has the potential to be the top scorer. Stirling should be able to control the distance in this fight due to his physical advantages, giving him a good chance of making a big impact.
Vinicius Oliveira is coming off a loss to Mario Bautista and will now face Andre Fili. Before losing to Bautista, Oliveira won seven straight fights from 2023 to 2025. Fili, 35, is 4-5 with one no contest in his previous 10 contests in the UFC.
On paper, Fili has the height (5’11” vs. 5’9″) and reach (74″ vs. 70″) advantage over Oliveira in this contest. Although Fili is physically bigger, Oliveira is the much more skilled fighter on the feet. Oliveira averages more significant strikes per minute (4.73 vs. 3.88) while being more accurate (43% vs. 37%). Also, Oliveira only absorbs 2.70 significant strikes per minute, which is 1.64 fewer than Fili.
Oliveira has scored at least 80 fantasy points in three of his last four wins, with two of the performances being 88-plus. When Oliveira is aggressive while putting out a higher volume of punches than his opponent, he normally finds a ton of success. Following his first loss in nearly four years, I expect to see Oliveira enter this fight with a new mentality.
Horiguchi returned to the UFC in November 2025 after nine years away from the promotion. Since being back in the UFC, Horiguchi has gone 2-0 in the last seven months with wins over Tagir Ulanbekov and Amir Albazi. Horiguchi is currently on an eight-fight unbeaten streak, with his last loss coming in April 2022.
Now Horiguchi will face Manel Kape for the second time, as they first fought in December 2017. Kape has scored three straight knockouts and is 7-1 in his previous eight contests. In his last fight, Kape knocked out Brandon Royval in the first round in December 2025. Kape has the physical advantages in this contest, as he is taller (5’5″ vs. 5’4″) and has a greater standing reach (68″ vs. 63″).
Kape is the better pure striker, averaging more significant strikes (5.04 vs. 3.77) at a higher rate (56% vs. 47%). But Horiguchi is better defensively on the feet, as he only absorbs 2.13 significant strikes per minute, which is nearly two fewer than Kape. On the ground, Horiguchi has the clear edge. Also, these stats for Horiguchi only include his UFC fights, as he had a long hiatus between bouts in the promotion. Kape has excelled recently when pressuring his opponents, but he could struggle against Horiguchi, who poses problems for opponents with his quick, twitchy style.
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