Kai Kara-France is looking to capitalise on his opportunity against Cody Garbrandt at UFC 269. Photo / Getty Images
Kai Kara-France is looking to capitalise on his opportunity against Cody Garbrandt at UFC 269. Photo / Getty Images
At UFC 269, Kai Kara-France is coming to spoil the party.
On Sunday, the Kiwi flyweight contender will welcome former UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt to the lighter weight class on the main card in the biggest spot of his career to date.
The 28-year-old, currently ranked at No 6in the division, knows the narrative too – this is supposed to be Garbrandt's path to a title shot.
Garbrandt was initially put straight into a title fight when he declared his intentions to drop into the 57kg division, however was forced out of that fight due to illness. Instead, he now has to get through Kara-France, who was well aware of the position he will be in this weekend.
"I'm going to be the party-pooper and knockout the hometown guy. That's what has pushed me in this camp because we're fighting the best in the world. I know I'm the best in the world, so I've just got to turn up on fight night, go out there and have fun."
With many believing a win for Garbrandt puts him next in line for the belt, Kara-France is looking to turn that narrative in his favour and earn himself a shot at UFC gold with a spectacular performance.
"This is only the start of my journey and the start of my story. There's a big journey ahead of me and that's to be the flyweight world champion, and Cody is the next stepping stone to doing that."
The matchup is one that has a lot of fans and pundits alike intrigued. Both fighters back their striking ability and are happy to exchange in the pocket, but have also shown their grappling chops in the past. At his best, Garbrandt is electric, with a combination of speed and power seeing him win 10 of his 12 victories by knockout, however he has dropped four of his past five bouts at bantamweight, hence the drop in weight class.
Ten of Cody Garbrandt's 12 professional wins have come by knockout. Photo / Getty Images
There are plenty of unknowns going in as well, particularly around how Garbrandt will perform having to cut more weight than he is used to, knowing how a weight cut can impact both stamina, durability and power in a fight.
It's something Kara-France intends to find out as, while Garbrandt comes in making his debut in the weight class, Kara-France believes he is in the best condition of his career and will be sure to make that show in the fight.
"I want to use this conditioning as a weapon," Kara-France said.
"When this camp started 10 weeks out, I was already fit; it wasn't a camp I had to pick (myself) up off the couch and get into shape (for). All those hard sessions, I was pushing myself past places I've never been and I've found home in pushing it. I'm at that stage where I don't get tired now; it's just second nature to me to live in that red zone, to live in that dark place where people hit the wall. I want to go looking for it.
"I want to see what this guy is made of, I want to put the pace on him, I want to show him the flyweight division is strong and you can't just come down and think you can bully your way to a title shot."
