Kai Kara-France says the whole lot felt okay while battling Alexandre Pantoja on the bottom at UFC 317 — until it didn’t.
Before Ilia Topuria knocked out Charles Oliveira to turn into a two-division kingpin at UFC 317, Pantoja got things done inside the gap himself to exit the cage with gold in his possession.
Within the co-main event, Pantoja submitted Kara-France in round three, becoming the longest-reigning energetic male UFC champion in the method.
While celebrations shall be ongoing for ‘The Cannibal’ and his team, it’ll be the alternative for Kara-France, who fell in need of a UFC title for the second time in his profession and certain faces a protracted road back to a different opportunity.
Kai Kara-France admits he didn’t show enough ‘urgency’ on the bottom at UFC 317
The Kiwi flyweight first had his title ambitions dented at UFC 277 in the summertime of 2022. Kara-France was stopped by Brandon Moreno of their battle for the interim championship.
Having fallen to an identical fate three years later, an understandably disillusioned Kara-France reflected on the setback during an interview with Sky Sport NZ backstage at T-Mobile Arena.
“Hats off to Pantoja. He’s the champ for a reason,” Kara-France said. “He’s just tough. Cracked him a number of times and he just keeps coming forward.
“I assumed I used to be sweet until it got deeper and deeper. Before you already know it…I used to be just stuck. That’s his world on the bottom, and it was just dangerous for me to (show) not enough urgency to stand up.
“Just proud to represent the gym, our coaches and our team. Just need to say an enormous thanks for all of the support back home,” Kara-France added. “It’s just tough because I’ve been here before…it’s harder to stand up each time once you put a lot into this.
“That’s the fight game, and I’m going to carry my head up high…live to fight one other day.”
Alexandre Pantoja’s next challenger is already decided
While Kara-France licks his wounds and assesses his next step, Pantoja already has a fresh challenge in his sights.
Moments after ‘The Cannibal’ recorded his fourth successful defense and made history because the winningest flyweight in UFC history, the champ faced off with Joshua Van.
Van beat Brandon Royval in a war earlier within the night, landing a late knockdown to place an exclamation point on his short-notice victory over the top-ranked contender.
Consequently, the rising Burmese flyweight has seemingly jumped the queue and earned a title shot off the back of his two victories at back-to-back June pay-per-views.