For the past month, Kai Kara-France has gone to bed picturing himself walking into the octagon for his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut.
In December, he'll get to experience it for real when he steps into the cage at UFC Fight Night in Adelaide.
Having signed a fight agreement about twoweeks ago, the Herald can confirm the 25-year-old flyweight will make his debut in the UFC against Australian Ashkan Mokhtarian on December 2, with the Australian's camp having now agreed to terms.
"The hard part was getting in the UFC, (but) the hard work doesn't stop," Kara-France said. "The date's set, now we can keep doing what we've been doing."
Iranian-born Mokhtarian holds a 13-3-0 career record, but has lost his only two bouts since joining the UFC in 2017. In his most recent fight, at UFC Fight Night Sydney in November last year, Mokhtarian was knocked out by American Ryan Benoit in the third round.
He's a fighter Kara-France knows a fair bit about, which he said made him feel "pretty comfortable" going into fight camp.
"I know he's going to come out hungry. He wants to get a win in the UFC.
"I'm not taking this fight lightly at all. These next three months leading up to the fight, all I'm focused on is him."
Kai Kara-France trained under current UFC flyweight champion Henry Cejudo (right) during season 24 of the Ultimate Fighter. Photo / Getty Images
As Kara-France (17-7-0) trains all year around, entering fight camp isn't something new to him, but he was hopeful he wouldn't be the only Kiwi on the card come December. His City Kickboxing teammates Dan Hooker and Shane Young are looking to book bouts on the card, as is Hamiltonian UFC fighter Luke Jumeau.
"Right now we're just being consistent, not going too crazy with my conditioning and making sure that I'm doing all the right things. But, yeah, we're getting ready now."
Despite learning he had been added to the UFC roster over a month ago, Kara-France said being part of the world's premier mixed martial arts company was still surreal. The Kiwi has experienced the UFC environment before as a part of season 24 of the Ultimate Fighter in 2016, where he trained under current flyweight champion Henry Cejudo. He won his first fight in the competition by knockout, but was beaten by decision in the quarterfinals.
Come December 2, he'll make the walk to the octagon for the first time on a UFC card – and he's likely to have plenty of support when he does.
"It's going to be awesome being on that Adelaide card. It's close to home, it's close enough for my friends and family to make the trip. I know a lot of people will be coming over to watch me."
