UFC flyweight Kai Kara-France needs to move on from his controversial loss to Amir Albazi. The Auckland-based fighter wants a rapid turnaround, eyeing the UFC’s return to the land down under at UFC 293 in Sydney, Australia, this September. Kara-France told The MMA Hour that he already has an opponent in mind.
“September, UFC is coming back to Sydney. I don’t really have any injuries or anything, so that’s probably the next date, the next fight that I would love to do. My side of the world, where I’m more comfortable, fighting in front of friends and family. I haven’t done that in a while.
Kai Kara-France Names Dream Matchup For UFC Sydney
We’ve got a few guys we want to fight in that top 10. There’s a few guys that have been around for awhile, when I was on The Ultimate Fighter, that for some reasons we’ve never crossed paths. So who knows? We could be ticking off one of those names come September in Sydney.”
Chief among those names is a 125-pound veteran, Tim Elliott. “Someone who has always been on my radar, he’s called me out for years, but we’ve never fought: Tim Elliott.
He’s a guy who has always been on my radar, and when I made the UFC, every week he would call me out saying, ‘I want to fight this guy! I wanted to fight him since The Ultimate Fighter!’ And I never brought it to attention because after a while, I passed him in the rankings.
That’s a guy coming off a win, same card, I don’t think he go injured, he’s a vet — he’s had more UFC fights than me — so it’s a name. I don’t know where I’m going to be in the UFC rankings the next day or so, but he’s top 10, why not fight a vet like that on my side of the world?
Give the fans what they want. People want to see me fight, they want to see me make that walk on home soil, so why not do it against a vet?”
The fight should, on paper, work out. Elliott is a ranked flyweight at #11, and their timelines match up. Regardless, Kara-France is going to keep movin forward.
“I’ve got the best team in the world. We’ll regroup, and I wouldn’t want to be the next guy that fights me. There’s a fire in me now. It’s always going to be there, but I’m coming off two losses now, and it’s not truly representing my career.
I’m showcasing that I am one of the best guys, but just on paper it doesn’t look like that. It’s a tough one, but I know that I’m going to be showing everyone what a major comeback is. I look forward to the next one.”
