The last time Kai
Kara-France was in the Octagon, he ended up on the wrong end of
a split decision against Amir
Albazi.
Advertisement
While that June 2023 bout could have easily gone in favor of
Kara-France, the 31-year-old Kiwi hasn’t dwelled on the defeat.
“The difference is I haven’t [let] the weight of that decision
define me. People will see the loss next to my name. I guess you’ve
got to take the positives and negatives from the performance and
see how you can get better,” Kara-France said in an interview with
UFC.com. “That’s the fight game. You can’t really hold
on to things. You’ve just got to let it go, adapt and keep moving
forward. I’m sure me and Amir will cross paths in the future, but
I’ve got a fight in front of me so that’s all I’m putting my energy
into.”
The fight that currently has Kara-France’s attention is a UFC 305
co-main event matchup with Steve Erceg
on Saturday at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia. Erceg, a native of
Australia, is coming off a competitive loss to reigning flyweight
champion Alexandre
Pantoja this past May.
ESPN+. Order Now!
“It’s a massive fight for the flyweight division, co-main event on
a pay-per-view,” Kara-France said. “Massive fight for this region:
two flyweights from New Zealand and Australia getting to battle it
out just shows you how for this region has come in the UFC. We’ve
both fought for the title before. So this can’t not be fireworks.
Having that kind of pressure and expectation, you just have to go
towards it, and that’s what I’ll be doing.”
The New Zealand vs. Australia rivalry adds some flavor to the
matchup, but according to “Don’t Blink,” there is no animosity
between the two flyweight contenders.
“This is all business, nothing personal,” Kara-France said. “His
career has come as a rise pretty rapidly. It just shows he’s high
level. He’s one of the best guys in our division.”
Kara-France was supposed to return to action against Manel Kape
at UFC 293 last September before a concussion forced him to
withdraw from the bout. He believes that layoff that has occurred
since his contentious loss to Albazi will be beneficial in the long
run.
“While this rest of the division has been beating each other up,
I’m coming in fresh, I’m coming in hungry and ready to remind
everyone while I’m one of the best flyweights in the world,” he
said.