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Kai Kara-France finds himself in an excellent position after beating Askar Askarov at UFC Columbus. The flyweight could find himself in big fights with Brandon Moreno or even the champion, Deiveson Figueiredo. The championship fight would be his opportunity to get back at Henry Cejduo.
Both fights are appealing and Kai Kara-France will have an opportunity to get a big test next. He can't help but hope he gets a crack at the UFC flyweight champion next though.
“Both [Figueiredo and Moreno] fights are great fights for me, but I would love to fight Figueiredo,” UFC flyweight Kara-France said Wednesday on The MMA Hour. “The way he amps up the fight, just his style, people really think he’s ‘God of War.’ But I want to show him that there’s levels to this and there’s a new ‘God of War’ in town, and that’s me. I want to be in his face and put it on him. I want to test him.
“I feel like I can put him away, so it would be a great fight, and imagine doing it at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, 60,000 people, making the walkout, feeding off the energy and putting it on him.”
Kai Kara-France is in an excellent position as both men in the UFC title conversation want to fight him. The New Zealand-based fighter has plenty to be happy about going forward.
“Both champions want to fight me,” he said. “They’re both saying, ‘I don’t want to fight for the fourth time, I want to fight this guy.’ So, the ball’s in my court. That was my second to last fight on my contract, so we’re in a great place. Now, we’re going to talk with Eugene and Mick and Dana and see what the next plan is.”
UFC Columbus was a huge opportunity for Kai Kara-France and it was a dangerous fight but could also help him get in the title conversation. It paid off and now he finds himself able to disrupt the UFC's plans to have a fourth fight between Brandon Moreno and Deiveson Figueiredo.
“High risk, high reward,” he said. “No one wanted to fight this guy. A lot of people would have sat back after knocking out a former champion, let’s just sit on this and see what happens. But I don’t want to do that. I don’t want to wait and be given a title shot, I want to earn it. I want to show everyone I’m the best in the world.”
“I feel like fans want to see a new face,” he added later. “They want to see a new matchup, and then let me fight Figgy, and then I get past him and I’ll fight Moreno after that.”
The fight with Deiveson Figueiredo has a bit of a personal beef in it as his coach, Eric Albarracin, famously doesn't like Kai Kara-France's training partner, UFC champion Israel Adesanya. It all goes back to the Paulo Costa fight back in September 2020.
“[Albarracin] was my coach on Season 24, so I know [he and Cejudo], and they obviously felt disrespected by Izzy when Izzy knocked out Costa, and there was a bit of back-and-forth and a bit of beef there,” Kara-France said. “So they keep saying, ‘We accept this fight [with] Kai against Figgy, we want Izzy to be in the corner, to, I guess, try and make a statement.’ But if [Adesanya is] fighting the same night as the main event, that won’t be happening.
“I’d love to knock Figgy out right in front of Cejudo and let him know that that shy, young boy that you coached on The Ultimate Fighter ain’t the same anymore. I’m grown up, I’m matured, and I’m a seasoned veteran. So it’s a whole different ballpark.”
