A lot has changed since the first time Kai Kara-France and Alexandre Pantoja fought.
Nine years ago, Kara-France and ‘The Cannibal’ first met as part of The Ultimate Fighter 24. Nearly a decade later, they’ll run it back on MMA’s biggest stage, co-maineventing one of the biggest pay-per-view events of the year.
Pantoja will put his flyweight world title on the line against ‘Don’t Blink’ at UFC 317 this Saturday night as part of the International Fight Week finale in Las Vegas. And this time, Kara-France is ready to prove that he has what it takes to beat the Brazilian and kickstart a new era for the 125-pound division.
“They were not the same fighters nine years ago,” Kara-France said in an interview with MMA Junkie. “I was just a boy, pretty much figuring this thing out. Didn’t know how to weight cut, wasn’t training at CKB, was training out of Thailand back then. A lot of things are different. Seeing the fighter Pantoja is now and the world champion that he is, nothing but respect, and he’s done amazing in his career. But every time you talk about the next contender in the flyweight division after my last fight, you can’t deny that I’m at the top.
“It’s a fresh matchup, something that nine years ago is not really relevant now. People even forgot that we even did fight—it’s not on our records. Everyone in the top five has fought Pantoja two or three times; I’ve beaten a guy that took Pantoja to a tough decision, and I thought Steve won that fight against Pantoja when they fought in Brazil. To take him out in the first round and to pretty much cement myself as one of the number one favorites—I just had to be patient.
“I’ve nearly been out for a year now, just waiting for my time, and the universe has presented me with this fight to run it back. I jumped at it. I’ve been training since pretty much the start of the end of last year, staying in the gym, getting better, and I’ve only had one guy to prepare for—that’s Pantoja.”
Kai Kara-France has been working towards this opportunity for years
Coming off a big win over Steve Erceg, Kara-France will be competing for an undisputed title for the first time at UFC 317. Previously, he squared off with Brandon Moreno for the interim flyweight championship in March 2022, but ultimately came up short against the Mexican-born sensation.
Kara-France also holds wins over Rogério Bontorin, Cody Garbrandt, and Askar Askarov. Overall, he’s 8-4 inside the Octagon, and a winner in three of his last five.
