The last time Kai Kara-France was in the Octagon, he ended up on the wrong end of a split decision against Amir Albazi.
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.
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“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.
