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Stream UFC 317 on ESPN+ https://plus.espn.com/ufc/ppv
ESPN MMA’s Brett Okamoto interviews Kai Kara-France about his flyweight title fight against Alexandre Pantoja this Saturday in Las Vegas.
#UFC317 #UFC #KaraFrance
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Video Transcript
brett Okamoto on the ground in Las Vegas
UFC 317 kai Keraf France going for the
undisputed flyweight championship
against Allesandre Pantoia this Saturday
and one of the first things I want to
ask you Kai is I saw in another
interview that you said when this was
kind of going on and you were figuring
out when exactly the fight was going to
take place and you were just asking
Pantoia on messages like "Hey when are
we going to fight?" What kind of
relationship do you guys you guys got
behind the scenes yeah like nothing but
respect to Pantosia you know I love what
he's done as a champ and as a as a
family man you know we've known each
other for years now being in the
Ultimate Fighter sharing a room together
so you know full circle we get to run it
back uh after his fight um well actually
before his fight against Ka Sakura I
said "Bro you got the wrong Kai you
should be fighting me." And then after
the fight bro you can't deny me i'm the
next guy and then I thought we were
fighting in Miami um I thought that was
the card we're going to be on and he was
like "Yeah I want to fight in my
hometown as well like where I train." So
I was thinking "Okay cool that's us."
And then when Dana announced that we're
not fighting I was like "Bro did you
hear your name?" And he's like "No I
didn't hear it." And I don't know when
we're fighting but I guess we'll find
out and then yeah eventually it all
worked out and being patient kind of
paid off so yeah nothing but respect to
Pantosia you know he's uh he's a nice
guy uh but he's what he's got everything
that I want and that's to be the best in
the world yeah and you fought for an
interim championship but this is a
little different right the undisputed
championship and it's taken you a long
time I feel like i mean you have
definitely taken the quick route
especially when you consider guys like
Urs like you mentioned Kaio Sakura
getting getting shots in front of you do
you like the fact that it's taken you a
long way and that you've earned every
little step of it or would you have
would have been nice to have have gotten
a title shot before now the universe
works in um you know does its thing and
I feel like we've um I've gone through
it all so you know my experiences um in
this fight game 15 years I've been
fighting now 6 years I've been in the
UFC 40 uh fighting the best guys um it's
all for a reason you know and and um I
feel like it's worked out perfectly um
going through a title fight where it
wasn't my night it was Brandon Moreno's
U back in 2022 um but uh I figured out
why I'm fighting you know i figured out
why I'm doing this and you need to go
through those moments to to to get that
hunger and to have that fire that's
still burning and um here we are now
where I've just been in the gym since
the start of the year i knew this fight
was happening i didn't know when it was
but I just knew that I had to just stay
ready and and um yeah a lot of things
have been happening this year but I've
just helped myself and just gotten
better and um you know physically
mentally and spiritually um ready for
this um so yeah I'm I'm kind of glad it
took a little bit longer um because I've
gone through it all and um yeah I've
come out the other end and all those
experiences can help me for this one
yeah and you do seem very at peace going
into this fight so I don't want to rile
you up and change that at all but I will
say like just me I will say this
personally i think you're one of the
most underrated guys in the UFC and I
don't really understand why um the
betting odds when you fought Steve Erg
he was a big time favorite over you and
hey Steve Urs he had a great fight
against Pantoia but it's kind of felt
like like I thought the odds were
slightly disrespected and then even in
this fight um Pantoia is a bigger
favorite against you than he has in in
any other title defense do you feel like
do you feel that underratedness um in
your career so far i don't really look
into it too much you know I've been
counted out i've been you know looked as
the underdog my whole career so you know
it's it's nothing new to me and I don't
focus on any of that i I look at um I go
inwards you know I look at everything
that I can control and and um that's
what I bring to the table i trust in my
team and and our process and um you know
we've got world champions that have gimm
that have done it all before so that
kind of allows me to to know that I
deserve it and if they do it if they
could do it um why can't I you know we
have the same team the same coaches the
same structure um and they're you know
legends of this game i'm talking about
Izzy and and Vog so I want to stand with
my teammates as one of the best um so
you know whatever the betting odds are
or you know whoever's um you know
building up these fights um I can only
control what I can and and that's just
bringing in my best and that that's what
I've done is just help myself and um
here we are now you know fight capital
of the world one of the biggest cards of
the year international fight week a co-
headline and uh I want to steal the
shine i want to make everyone remember
my fight and um leave Vegas with this
belt yeah another thing that you you've
said leading up to this fight that stuck
out to me is that when you were looking
at him and you were kind of breaking him
down it's like the way to beat this guy
is just to go forward and you have a
forward style already but I kind of I
kind of took something from that where
it just felt like even more specifically
for him like you just got to be all
aggression and is that should we be
anticipating that on Saturday it's a
it's going to be a dog fight like I
can't um I can't take a back step
because he'll he'll he's stubborn and
he'll come forward and he'll he'll want
to take the fight to where he wants to
go and that's usually to the ground uh
but you know I've got one of the best
takedown defenses in this division um
and I've got 12 knockouts on my record
so you know it's a great matchup and it
and it's a challenge for both of us you
know he's he's going to um have to eat a
few shots to get me to the ground and
and I'm going to have to take a few
shots to to keep it standing so u the
fans are going to be in for an exciting
fight and um yeah I can't wait for that
uh you know this is everything I've
worked towards um you know nine years
since we fought in the Ultimate Fighter
it's a lot lots happened since then i
was a boy back then now I'm a man i know
what I'm fighting for you know I've got
a family to provide for and I've got a
whole country behind me so I'm very
connected uh very focused and uh just
locked in and last question for me is I
know you want to be the first guy to
knock him out and I mean who wouldn't a
knockout is is you know always the the
goal yeah how much have you your your
you and your team talked about this and
how much do you think you'll think about
it on the night of the fight of like
winning rounds too like the knockout
would be great but um it's a high high
level fight just making because he's a
tough guy to win rounds against as well
right so like how do you kind of play
with both of those in your head of like
trying to be aggressive looking for the
knockout but also being mindful of where
the scoreards are i guess being dialed
in for 25 minutes you know that's the
fight game and at the highest level it's
it's that's what makes a difference um
having any mental laps or you know just
coasting and watching your work i guess
some that's something I've been uh
guilty of in the past where I land a
shot and you know I'm not worried about
the defense or or something coming back
at me because I I trust in my hands or
or my talent so much that I only need
one shot but Pantosia is not like that
you're going to have to get him out with
10 shots that that's what's going to
actually get a in his armor
eventually you'll find that off button
but yeah I just got to be patient i got
to not force things and that's where I'm
at in my life not just in fighting but
just letting everything flow um let
whatever be be and um you know I've just
been patiently waiting so here we are
now um a few days out and um yeah I'm
just in a great place enjoying the
journey i guess that's something that
I've taken away from my teammates you
know especially Vog and and Izzy and
their journeys um to the top it's just
embracing everything uh everything that
comes with you the highs and the lows
the wins and the losses you just learn
from it and you learn to love it and
that's why this is what I do cuz I love
to you know fight in the UFC i love to
fight the best guys in the world but
it's uh something I haven't ticked off
yet and that's to say that you're the
best in the world so that's what I'm
chasing uh representing my culture you
know being Maldi representing my people
in Alador New Zealand so when I make
that walk out just know that I'm I'm
representing all of us and I'm ready for
this well I'm happy for you man i'm
happy that you're here and you can enjoy
it as well and I'm just a fight fan at
heart and when you talk about this fight
being a dog fight I agree with you so
I'm looking very much looking forward to
it and uh best of luck thank you for the
time appreciate it thank you
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