Nearly a decade removed from their last meeting, Alexandre Pantoja is ready to throw down with the heavy-handed Kai Kara-France.
Emanating from the familiar confines of T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, ‘The Cannibal’ will put his flyweight world title on the line against Kara-France in the UFC 317 co-main event during International Fight Week on Saturday, June 28.
It will be the second-ever meeting between the two 125-pound stars, the first coming all the way back in 2016 on The Ultimate Fighter 24. Then, Pantoja scored a unanimous decision over Kara-France. Of course, a lot has changed since then. Don’t Blink’ has since earned wins over the likes of Rogerio Bontorin, Cody Garbrandt, and Steve Erceg — all coming by way of knockout in the very first round.
During a recent interview with MMA Junkie, Pantoja shared his excitement the throw hands with Kara-France once again, likening his power with that of one of the greatest heavyweight boxing champions of all time.
“I have the opportunity to deal one more time with Kai Kara-France,” Pantoja said. “He’s a guy with powerful hands. I feel Kai Kara-France like a Mike Tyson. I feel like I’m going to fight someone who can knock me down. That makes me a lot of tension about his hands.
“That’s a good challenge. I need challenges to train. I have almost 20 years as a professional fighter. I love this atmosphere. I love what I mean, what I am myself right now. What I did, what I complete, I can do much more. I feel better and better every time.”
Alexandre Pantoja puts his gold and four-year win streak on the line at UFC 317
Pantoja goes into his fourth flyweight title defense riding a seven-fight win streak, including a quartet of lights-out performances against Brandon Moreno, Brandon Royval, Steve Erceg, and Kai Asakura.
Will ‘The Cannibal’ go two-up on Kara-France and add another successful defense to his resume, or will ‘Don’t Blink’ live up to his moniker and make history in ‘Sin City’?
