UFC 317’s co-main event is a one-to-watch as two Flyweights battle it out for championship gold.
Alexandre Pantoja defends his title against the #4 contender, Kai Kara-France, at the T-Mobile Arena.
Both fighters have previously faced each other before in The Ultimate Fighter: Season 24, where the Brazilian won by judges’ decision.
Since 2016, the two 125-pounders have gone from being prospects in the division to top contenders.
Despite Pantoja looking unstoppable, as well as not getting the credit he deserves, he may be up against his toughest test yet.
Pantoja’s run as King of the Flyweights
The ‘Cannibal’ has been in glorious form ever since his victory against Manel Kape at UFC Vegas 18.
The Rio de Janeiro-born fighter earned himself a title shot after two consecutive submission wins over Brandon Royval and Alex Perez.
Pantoja became the title challenger at UFC 290, facing two-time UFC Flyweight Champion Brandon Moreno in the co-main event.
In what was described as an epic brawl, as well as a close battle, Pantoja won by split decision to take the Flyweight throne.
In the same year the Brazilian won the championship, he defended the belt at UFC 296 in another rematch.
This time against Royval, going to the judges’ scorecards and winning by unanimous decision to make his first successful title defence.
The King of the Flyweights then finally got the chance to fight in his hometown, and in front of his home country for the first time in his UFC career.
Pantoja headlined UFC 301, accepting Steve Erceg’s challenge for the 125-pound title.
Once again, the Rio de Janeiro mixed martial artist went to the judges’ scorecards and picked up another unanimous decision triumph.
The last victory of his current infamous run was at UFC 310, where Pantoja once again shone in the main event.
The ‘Cannibal’ took on UFC debutant, Kai Asakura, and stopped the Japanese fighter with a Rear-Naked Choke in round two.
After increasing his winning streak to seven, Pantoja is only at #9 in the men’s pound-for-pound rankings.
The Brazilian is ranked the lowest among all other UFC Champions, despite having the second-most title wins among current champions.
Just one of the many reasons why he is so underappreciated as a title holder of the UFC.
Kara-France’s journey for undisputed gold
The New Zealand fighter has certainly had his ups and downs; nonetheless, he has reached the position of being a Flyweight title challenger.
The rise of ‘Don’t Blink’ began at UFC 259, where he earned himself a late first-round KO win against Rogerio Bontorin.
This would be his first stoppage victory after seven fights with the organisation.
The Kiwi then became a recognisable name in the UFC when he welcomed Cody Garbrandt to the 125-pound division.
As a slight underdog, Kara-France delivered a dominant performance, knocking out the former Bantamweight Champion in round one at UFC 269.
After defeating a fan favourite of the sport, the Auckland-born mixed martial artist aimed for title contention.
Kara-France increased his winning streak to three when he went the distance with Askar Askarov to win by unanimous decision.
This triumph would give the New Zealand fighter an opportunity at interim UFC gold against Moreno.
Sadly, for the Kiwi, a brutal body kick in the third round left him no choice but to lose by TKO, missing his chance to fight Deiveson Figueiredo for the undisputed title.
It would only go more downhill for Kara-France as he received a split decision loss to Amir Albazi at UFC Vegas 74.
A result that many of the MMA community believed was a robbery.
‘Don’t Blink’ did come back with redemption in his next fight, knocking out Erceg in the first round at UFC 305.
A huge statement win where many believed Kara-France earned his opportunity to fight for the undisputed Flyweight Championship finally.
How could the title fight play out?
In their first clash in the Ultimate Fighter, both men defended each other’s strong attributes very well, but couldn’t gain anything from it.
Pantoja is a fighter who prefers to engage in ground battles, which is why he has earned 11 submissions in his MMA career.
The Brazilian likes to put pressure on his opponents in the Octagon and will not be afraid to exchange strikes, like he has done with his previous opponents.
Kara-France specialises in keeping the contest on his feet as he always looks for that knockout shot.
The Kiwi does have a brilliant takedown defence, which will be an important factor heading into the co-main event of UFC 317.