Kai Kara-France expects to KO “sloppy” Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 317

Kai Kara-France is confident he will bring another UFC title back to New Zealand at UFC 317.

Kara-France is set to take on Alexandre Pantoja for the flyweight title in the co-main event of the pay-per-view card in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Saturday. It’s a chance for Kara-France to get revenge on Pantoja, as he lost a decision to the Brazilian on TUF back in 2016.

Heading into his first world title fight, Kai Kara-France has plenty of confidence he won’t just beat Alexandre Pantoja, but will become the first person to KO him at UFC 317.

Kai Kara-France vows to KO Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 317

“Sylistically, this is a tough matchup, not just for myself but for him as well. If he tries to get me to the ground, he can’t keep me there. I’m too quick, I’m too fast,” Kai Kara-France said on UFC Countdown. “I’ve got one of the best takedown defenses in this flyweight division. Pantoja’s biggest weakness is that he will be too stubborn, and he will try to walk me down, and eventually, he will get sloppy.

“One thing I always have in my back pocket is that I can finish the fight whenever,” Kara-France added. “In a division, there are not many knockouts; I’ve got 12 of them. Fighting for a world title, I’m excited because this is 15 years of fighting. It’s a long time to work on one goal, a goal I haven’t ticked off. I want to be the first one to knock him out in the UFC flyweight division. And, bring another belt back to New Zealand. That’s what I’m chasing.”

Kai Kara-France believes that once he stuffs some of Alexandre Pantoja’s takedowns, he will get frustrated and make some mistakes on the feet, which will lead to the knockout.

Kara-France enters UFC 317 as a sizeable underdog, as he’s +205.