Alexandre Pantoja’s dominant run as UFC Flyweight Champion was extended on Saturday night with a one-sided performance against New Zealand’s Kai Kara-France in the co-main event of UFC 317 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
After spending a fair amount of a three-round fight on the defensive, Kara-France suffered the same fate that five other past Pantoja opponents have undergone as well: Getting tapped out with his rear naked choke.
A submission for Pantoja emerged just under two minutes into the third round, when the Brazilian talent slipped his submission under the chin of Kara-France.
“A lot of guys know I go to that position,” Pantoja said in his post-fight interview. “A lot of guys train for that. But, I’m too evolved.”
Pantoja got the fight to the ground early in the third by charging at Kara-France with a flurry of shots, ending the explosive sequence with a takedown attempt.
A similar strategy also got him control in the first round, storming at Kara-France immediately after the fight’s start and setting up for a sudden takedown.
He searched for submissions in the opening minutes of the fight as well, trying for an arm triangle choke before moving into a full mount position on the ground, putting together nearly five full minutes of control time in the opening round, per UFC stats.
While the first and third rounds were defined solely by grappling from Pantoja, the second showed more diversity in his gameplan. Although he was able to get another takedown in the round, he also proved his skills on the feet, out-landing Kara-France in stand-up exchanges.
The impressive showing from Pantoja on Saturday continued a run which first started in the same building just under two years ago, when he earned a split decision victory over Brandon Moreno.
With past wins as champ against Brandon Royval, Steve Erceg, and Kai Asakura, along with high-profile outings from before his title reign, Pantoja has beaten a fair number of the names currently listed in the flyweight rankings.
However, it seems likely that a fresh challenge will emerge for Pantoja’s next fight. Less than an hour after he won a Fight of the Year contender over Brandon Royval, 23-year-old Joshua Van was let back into the UFC cage to face off with Pantoja, signalling that he’s most likely next for a shot.
Van has pieced together a five-fight win streak within the past year, including a pair of victories in this month alone. A win on Saturday against Royval specifically is what put him into the title discussion, overcoming a fighter who had been ranked first in the standings before this weekend.
“He’s a great champion, but he ain’t ever fought Joshua Van,” the confident Texas-based striker said before facing off with Pantoja.
The title fight on Saturday offered a chance for Kara-France to avenge a loss he took against Pantoja back on Season 24 of The Ultimate Fighter back in 2016.
Kara-France earned himself a shot at the champ after putting away former Pantoja opponent Erceg last August with strikes in just under a round. The City Kickboxing-trained 125-pounder is now unsuccessful in two title fights, previously losing an interim bout to Moreno in 2022 as well.
