Rivalries: Kai Kara-France

The future—immediate and otherwise—has grown somewhat murky for Kai Kara-France in the Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight division.

“Don’t Blink” will attempt to put his best foot forward and snap a two-fight losing streak when he squares off with Steve Erceg in the UFC 305 co-headliner this Saturday at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia. Kara-France steps back into view having compiled a 7-3 record across his 10 appearances inside the Octagon. The 31-year-old Eugene Bareman protégé last suited up at UFC on ESPN 46, where he wound up on the wrong side of a five-round split decision against Amir Albazi in their June 3, 2023 main event.

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As Kara-France plots his way forward at 125 pounds, a look at some of the rivalries that have helped shape his career to this point:

Raulian Paiva

Kara-France pushed what was at the time a career-best winning streak to seven fights with a split decision over the Brazilian in a UFC 234 flyweight prelim on Feb. 9, 2019 at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia. All three cageside judges scored it 29-28: Garth Harriman for Paiva, Derek Cleary and Christopher Shen for Kara-France. Operating in the shadows of the Israel Adesanya-Anderson Silva headliner, Paiva was effective in spurts, particularly with his low kicks and relentless forward pressure. He also threatened with a tight guillotine choke in the waning moments of Round 2. Kara-France answered with clean left hooks and thudding overhand rights, one of which opened a cut near the Brazilian’s left eye in the second round. With the outcome still in doubt, the Kiwi struck for a takedown in the final seconds of the third to seal the deal and spoil Paiva’s Octagon debut.

Brandon Royval

The former Legacy Fighting Alliance champion submitted Kara-France with a guillotine choke in the second round of their UFC 253 flyweight showcase on Sept. 26, 2020 at the Flash Forum in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Referee Lukasz Bosacki waved it off 48 seconds into Round 2. A frenetic first five minutes saw Royval lurch in front despite being knocked down. He answered with a spinning back elbow that sat down France, then threatened briefly with a gogoplata. Later in the opening stanza, Royval dazed the City Kickboxing rep with a close-range knee strike. Both men needed the one-minute respite between rounds. France shot for an ill-advised takedown inside the first minute of Round 2 and wandered into the guillotine. He struggled to free himself but soon became aware that his situation had gone from dire to downright hopeless.

Cody Garbrandt

Kara-France put away the former bantamweight champion with punches in the first round of their featured UFC 269 attraction on Dec 11, 2021 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Garbrandt checked out 3:21 into Round 1. He could not have envisioned a ruder welcome to a new division. France floored the Team Alpha Male export with an overhand right and gave chase. Still resourceful in a compromised state, Garbrandt briefly stymied the Kiwi with a takedown. However, France returned to his feet, reset himself in open space and cut loose with punches. He pinned Garbrandt to the fence, wobbled him with a multi-punch volley that included a right uppercut and then punctuated the finish with one final right hand while his opponent tried to retreat.

Brandon Moreno

“The Assassin Baby” cut down Kara-France with a body kick and follow-up punches in their high-stakes rematch, as he laid claim to the interim flyweight championship in the third round of their UFC 277 co-main event on July 30 at American Airlines Center in Dallas. Moreno drew the curtain 4:34 into Round 3, improving to 2-0 in their head-to-head series with one another. After battling to a relative stalemate through the first 10 minutes, the Fortis MMA rep found another gear when it mattered most. Kara-France upped the aggression in the third round and walked right into a kill shot. Moreno slammed a devastating kick into his liver that folded the New Zealand native where he stood. Referee Herb Dean afforded Kara-France every opportunity to recover, but an unending string of unanswered punches from the Mexican star forced his hand. Moreno had taken a three-round unanimous decision from the Kiwi in their first encounter at UFC 245 in December 2019, outlanding him by a narrow 91-82 margin.