Kai Kara-France


James Kaiwhare Kara-France is a New Zealand mixed martial artist who competes in the flyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. As of June 10, 2020, he is #7 in the UFC flyweight rankings.

Mixed martial arts career

Early Career

In November 2010, Kara-France began his professional MMA career in his home city of Auckland, New Zealand, with a first-round TKO win over Ray Kaitiana.

The Ultimate Fighter

In 2016, Kara-France competed in - the 24th edition of the UFC-produced reality television series The Ultimate Fighter. He won his first fight with a 30-second KO win over Terrence Mitchell. His second and final fight in this tournament was in the quarterfinals, where he lost by decision to Alexandre Pantoja.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Kara-France was signed by the UFC on July 2018 and he made his UFC debut on December 1, 2018 at against Ashkan Mokhtarian. However on November 21, 2018 Moktarian was pulled from the fight citing injury, and he was replaced by Elias Garcia. Kara-France won the fight via unanimous decision. Both fighters were awarded US $50,000 Fight of the Night bonuses.
Two months later, Kara-France faced Raulian Paiva on February 10, 2019 at UFC 234. He won the fight via split decision.
Kara-France faced Mark De La Rosa on August 31, 2019 at. He won the fight via unanimous decision.
Kara-France was briefly linked to a bout Sergio Pettis on December 14, 2019 at UFC 245. However in early October, Pettis revealed that he was entertaining offers from other promotions after the completion of his previous contract and did not currently have a fight lined up with the promotion. Kara-France instead faced Brandon Moreno. He lost the fight by unanimous decision.
Kara-France faced Tyson Nam on February 23, 2020 at UFC Fight Night 168. He won the fight via unanimous decision.
Kara-France was expected to face Alex Perez on. However, on April 9, Dana White, the president of UFC announced that this event was postponed to a future date due to COVID-19 pandemic.
Kara-France is expected to face Brandon Rovyal on September 26, 2020.

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts