An interim flyweight championship rematch between former undisputed division champion, Brandon Moreno, and the surging contender, Kai Kara-France has been booked to feature at UFC 277 on July 30. At the time of publication, an official location or venue for the event has yet to be determined by the organization. Brandon Moreno holds a prior […]
An interim flyweight championship rematch between former undisputed division champion, Brandon Moreno, and the surging contender, Kai Kara-France has been booked to feature at UFC 277 on July 30. At the time of publication, an official location or venue for the event has yet to be determined by the organization.
Brandon Moreno holds a prior unanimous judging win over Kai Kara-France
Initially meeting at UFC 245 in December 2019, former flyweight champion, Brandon Moreno handed City Kickboxing standout, Kai Kara-France a unanimous decision defeat in an early preliminary card showdown.
Turning in his third straight victory back in March, Kara-France scooped the #2 rank at 125lbs with a unanimous decision title-eliminator win over Askar Askarov at UFC Columbus over the course of three rounds. Per Ariel Helwani, the aforenoted Figueiredo is still recovering from an injury to his finger, resulting in the introduction of an interim title fight between Brandon Moreno and Kai Kara-France.
19-6-2 as a professional, Moreno who has achieved gold during his second tenure with the organization, managed to successfully clinch the undisputed crown in the co-main event of UFC 263 back in June of last year – defeating Figueiredo with a third round rear-naked choke.
The pair initially met in the headliner of UFC 256 in December of 2020, with Figueiredo retaining his championship after the bout was judging a majority draw following a point deduction against the Brazilian due to an illegal groin strike.
Before his draw with Figueiredo, Moreno had embarked on his winning run with his judging success against Kara-France, as well as lodging other victories against Jussier Formiga, and a finish against recent UFC 274 winner, Brandon Royval.
24-9(1) as a professional, before his win over common-foe, Askarov earlier this year, Kara-France stopped former undisputed bantamweight champion, Cody Garbrandt, in the latter’s flyweight bow – adding to another knockout success against Rogerio Bontorin.
The full fight card for July’s UFC 277 pay-per-view was revealed during the UFC Vegas 55 broadcast, and the main event will feature the highly anticipated bantamweight title rematch between champion Julianna Peña and Amanda Nunes. It had already been confirmed that Peña and Nunes would fight at the conclusion of the current season of…
The full fight card for July’s UFC 277 pay-per-view was revealed during the UFC Vegas 55 broadcast, and the main event will feature the highly anticipated bantamweight title rematch between champion Julianna Peña and Amanda Nunes.
It had already been confirmed that Peña and Nunes would fight at the conclusion of the current season of The Ultimate Fighter of which both women are coaching. Now, we know the date and location, as the PPV event will take place on July 30 in Dallas, Texas.
Also made official is the interim flyweight bout between Brandon Moreno and Kai Kara-France. Champion Deiveson Figueiredo is currently sidelined with a finger injury, and there is no clear timetable for his return.
Kai Kara-France earned a crack at interim gold by pulling together three consecutive wins, the last two coming over former UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt in a Performance of the Night-winning outing as well as a unanimous decision over Askar Askarov last March.
Former champion Brandon Moreno has only lost one fight in his last eight fights, with the sole defeat being against Figueiredo in their trilogy fight at UFC 270. Prior to this, Moreno defeated Figueiredo via rear-naked choke to win the title at UFC 263 and thereby became the first Mexican-born champion in the promotion’s history.
Also made official on the main card is the return of KO king Derrick Lewis, where the slugger will be facing Sergei Pavlovich.
It has also been confirmed that Paulo Costa will be remaining at middleweight after all as he will officially be facing the returning Luke Rockhold in a bout that will no doubt have many eyes locked in. And closing out the main card is a major bout between top-5 light heavyweights Magomed Ankalaev (#4) and Anthony Smith (#5).
You can view the full lineup for UFC 277: Peña vs. Nunes below!
While he’s got the challenge of long-time rival Deiveson Figueiredo in front of him this weekend, UFC Flyweight Champion Brandon Moreno is also aware of the other threats to his reign the 125-pound division boasts.
Moreno ascended the flyweight mou…
While he’s got the challenge of long-time rival Deiveson Figueiredo in front of him this weekend, UFC Flyweight Champion Brandon Moreno is also aware of the other threats to his reign the 125-pound division boasts.
Making the most of his opportunity, and riding the confidence he gained in his five-round FOTY contender with the Brazilian, Moreno delivered one of the best performances of 2021 inside Arizona’s Gila River Arena.
After taking control of the contest in the opening two rounds, the 28-year-old made history in the third frame by becoming the first Mexican-born UFC champion. To achieve the feat, he forced Figueiredo to tap out to a tight rear-naked choke.
After his performance last time out, the champion will head into the PPV clash as the favorite. Nevertheless, Figueiredo’s form before meeting the Mexican in 2020 was remarkable, and he appears to be in the best shape of his career and without the weight-cutting issues that have previously hampered his camp.
While “The Assassin Baby” is certainly not taking “Deus Da Guerra” lightly and acknowledges the challenge he has in front of him, as an analyst as well as a fighter, he’s not afraid to take a quick look towards the future.
During his appearance at UFC 270 media day on Wednesday, Moreno assessed the landscape of the flyweight division and named four possible next contenders for the title should he get past his Brazilian foe on January 22.
“I mean, Askar Askarov has an important fight against Kara-France. So, the winner of that fight can be the next one,” said Moreno. “Pantoja is definitely a possibility; he beat me twice in the past. Alex Perez is there too. Kara-France needs to beat Askar Askarov, but his last performance against Cody Garbrandt looked impressive. So, man, right now I’m very focused on Figueiredo, but I’m a Spanish analyst too, so I love to watch the other contenders in my division, and I can see these names (challenging for the title) in the future.”
Out of the top flyweights he named, Moreno has fought all but one, with the only omission on his record being Alex Perez.
The Mexican fought Askarov and Kara-France in his first two appearances back in the UFC after being re-signed in 2019. After a split draw against the Russian, Moreno took a big step towards title contention by recording a unanimous decision victory over the New Zealander less than three months later.
Prior to those triumphs and before his surge to the top, Moreno was released from the UFC following a loss on the scorecards to Pantoja. The setback represented his second defeat to the Brazilian, having been submitted by him on The Ultimate Fighter: Tournament of Champions in 2016.
Discussing the idea that the victor of Askarov vs. Kara-France, set to go down on March 26, could be next, Moreno broke down which rematch would be best. For the fans, the champ believes another clash with Kara-France would be more appealing. But for himself and his legacy, Moreno believes a victory over “Bullet” would do more.
“So, the thing between (Askarov and Kara-France), I fought against Kai Kara-France before and I beat him, like, very clearly. But for the fans, I think the style of Kai Kara-France is better (than Askarov),” added Moreno. “Askarov’s, kind of, these kind of fighters who don’t like, too much, to impress the fans [LAUGHS]. But, I mean, he is winning. So if you talk about which fight is better for the fans, I think (Kara-)France, but I think Askarov is better for my legacy.”
One thing for certain is that whoever emerges victorious will have a plethora of worthy contenders ready to try and unseat them from the flyweight throne later this year.
Who do you think Brandon Moreno should defend the title against next if he can defeat Deiveson Figueiredo again this weekend?
Kai Kara-France is still reeling over his UFC 269 win.
Kai Kara-France is flying high following his win at UFC 269. He defeated former bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt by TKO in the first round of their matchup. The win was probably the bigges…
Kai Kara-France is still reeling over his UFC 269 win.
Kai Kara-France is flying high following his win at UFC 269. He defeated former bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt by TKO in the first round of their matchup. The win was probably the biggest of Kara-France’s career so far. The performance shot the 28-year-old to number six in the flyweight rankings. Now, two weeks removed from the event, Kara-France is still in disbelief of his performance. He spoke about his feelings on The Schmo Youtube channel.
“Every morning I wake up and I’m like, ‘Did that really happen?” Kara-France explained. “It couldn’t have gone any better, from the lead-up to the actual fight, and then the finish and getting a bonus, and everyone really doubting me and kinda overlooking me. Especially Cody overlooking me, already telling Dana, ‘I’ll be the alternate for the next flyweight title fight.’
Kara-France has been a staple in the UFC flyweight division since 2018 when he made his promotional debut. Since then, he has only lost two fights, one of which was against champion Brandon Moreno. Despite Kara-France’s résumé, most media attention was on Garbrandt and his move to 125 pounds. Kara-France thought the UFC had a plan to give Garbrandt a title shot off a win and was glad to put a stop to that.
“So yeah, the whole lead-up was a weird one,” Kara-France said. “I knew that I’d been putting in the work, so when I turned up on fight week, I was focused. I only had one person in front of me and that’s all I was focused on, which was Cody. And he’s too busy trying to fight everyone else but me and won’t even acknowledge me. It was kinda like I was set up. He was getting set up for the title shot, and I was just a pawn and a stepping stone for him, to build him up for flyweight. So I was here to spoil the party, and that’s what I did.”
The win over a former champion is sure to give Kara-France a boost in motivation and confidence. He will need this confidence when he takes on Askar Askarov on March 26, as announced yesterday. Because should he win this bout, a title shot will more than likely be waiting for him.
Will Kai Kara-France become the UFC flyweight champion in 2022?
Askar Askarov and Kai Kara-France are set to meet in March in what may very well be a flyweight title eliminator.
As initially reported by MMA Junkie, the two flyweights have verbally agreed to compete at a UFC Fight Night on March 26. This event w…
Askar Askarov and Kai Kara-France are set to meet in March in what may very well be a flyweight title eliminator.
As initially reported by MMA Junkie, the two flyweights have verbally agreed to compete at a UFC Fight Night on March 26. This event will be headlined by former light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz taking on Aleksandar Raki?. The venue for the event is not yet known.
When Kai Kara-France pulled off the upset victory at UFC 269 over former bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt, the 28-year-old New Zealender had short-term aspirations of gold on his mind. Kara-France first-round TKO of “No Love” made for his second consecutive victory after having defeated Rogério Bontorin at UFC 259 in what was another Performance of the Night-winning KO.
Image Credit: Jeff Bottari
If those two performances didn’t earn Kara-France the right to be considered “Flyweight of the Year,” then a victory over the undefeated Askarov followed by a title win would all but guarantee him that recognition in 2022.
As his flawless record indicates, defeating Askar Askarov has proven to be no easy feat, however. The Russian remains undefeated at 14-0-1, with the draw coming to the reigning champion himself, Brandon Moreno, in 2019.
Since then, the #2-ranked Askarov has gone on to defeat Tim Elliott, Alexandre Pantoja, and the legendary Joseph Benavidez. Askarov lobbied for this fight when the #6-ranked Kara-France wanted to “skip the line” so to speak, and his Christmas wish has been granted by the UFC powers that be.
The flyweight title picture will have more clarity after the trilogy title fight between Brandon Moreno(c) and Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 270 next month.
With the addition of this potential flyweight title eliminator, here is the current lineup for the March 26 Fight Night card:
Jan Blachowicz vs. Aleksandar Raki?
Askar Askarov vs. Kai Kara-France
Amanda Ribas vs. Michelle Waterson
Sara McMann vs. Karol Rosa
Tucker Lutz vs. Seungwoo Choi
What is your prediction for this flyweight bout? Will Askar Askarov or Kai Kara-France bring themselves within point-blank range of a flyweight title shot?
Askar Askarov is calling for a fight with Kai Kara-France.
Fresh off his UFC 269 victory, Kai Kara-France is flying high in the UFC flyweight division. He just knocked out former UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt and is now looking for a sho…
Askar Askarov is calling for a fight with Kai Kara-France.
Fresh off his UFC 269 victory, Kai Kara-France is flying high in the UFC flyweight division. He just knocked out former UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt and is now looking for a shot at the title. However, while Kara-France has title aspirations, there is someone else who would like to take a shot at him, and that man is Askar Askarov.
Askarov took to Twitter on Wednesday to make a call out to Kara-France. However, the way that Askarov took his shot was to target middleweight champion and Kara-France’s friend, Israel Adesanya. Now, he is asking Adesanya to get him a shot at Kara-France.
@stylebender give your son some encouragement you’re a great champion show him how is done if he can beat me no one can deny him @kaikarafrance don’t be chicken
“@stylebender give your son some encouragement you’re a great champion show him how is done if he can beat me no one can deny him,” Askarov wrote. “@kaikarafrance don’t be chicken.”
Following his big win at UFC 269, Kara-France is only looking at the title. He wants an immediate shot at Moreno and could be willing to sit out until he gets it. Before appealing to Adesanya for his assistance, Askarov tried to entice Kara-France into a fight directly.
@kaikarafrance I want to give you a chance to fight contender fight I am number 2 you are number 6 let’s see if anybody from your country can beat anyone from Dagestan we all know what happened last time
“@kaikarafrance I want to give you a chance to fight contender fight I am number 2 you are number 6 let’s see if anybody from your country can beat anyone from Dagestan we all know what happened last time,” Askarov wrote.
It is yet to be seen if this method of matchmaking on the part of Askarov will work. At this time, Kara-France and his team have not responded. However, this fight makes sense for both and could be a possible Fight of the Night contender.
Do you want to see Askar Askarov take on Kai Kara-France?
