By The Numbers: Kai Kara-France vs. Amir Albazi
Top 10 flyweights will collide when the Ultimate Fighting Championship returns from a one-week sabbatical with UFC on ESPN 46, as Kai Kara-France squares off with Amir Albazi in the five-round headliner this Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Neither man wants to take a step back at 125 pounds.
Kara-France has rattled off three victories in four appearances. The City Kickboxing export last fought on July 30, when he succumbed to a body kick and follow-up punches from current flyweight champion Brandon Moreno at UFC 277. Albazi, meanwhile, enters the Octagon with the wind of a five-fight winning streak in his sails. The Xtreme Couture rep last competed at UFC Fight Night 216, where he punched out Alessandro Costa in the third round of their Dec. 17 encounter.
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30: Years of age for Kara-France, who was born on March 26, 1993 in Auckland, New Zealand.
11: Kara-France wins by knockout or technical
knockout, accounting for 46% of his career total (24). His list of
UFC victims: Cody
Garbrandt and Rogerio
Bontorin. Kara-France holds three other wins by submission
(12%) and 10 more by decision (42%).
557: Significant strikes landed by Kara-France as a UFC flyweight, placing him fifth on the promotion’s all-time list at 125 pounds. Only Demetrious Johnson (1,059), Joseph Benavidez (824), Tim Elliott (751) and the aforementioned Moreno (740) have been credited with more.
52: Rounds completed by Kara-France as a professional mixed martial artist. He has gone the distance on 14 different occasions and carries a 10-4 record in those bouts.
149: Combined victories between the nine opponents—Moreno (twice), Brandon Royval, Tatsumitsu Wada, Jumayi Ayideng, Mark Striegl, Gustavo Falciroli, Batgerel Danaa, Agustin Delarmino and Chad George—who have defeated Kara-France. They sport a .709 cumulative winning percentage at 149-59-7.
29: Years of age for Albazi, who was born in Baghdad on Oct. 27, 1993.
9: Albazi victories by submission, accounting for 56% of his career total. His methods of choice: five rear-naked chokes, three kimuras and one triangle choke. Albizi owns five other victories by knockout or technical knockout (31%) and two more by decision (13%).
59: Seconds needed for Albazi to put away Pavlo Kulish with a rear-naked choke under the World Ultimate Full Contact banner on Aug. 22, 2009. More than 13 years later, it remains his fastest finish to date.
1: Loss on the Albazi ledger. He wound up on the wrong side of a unanimous decision against Jose Torres at a Brave Combat Federation event in April 2019.
.695: Cumulative winning percentage between the four opponents—Costa, Francisco Figueiredo, Zhalgas Zhumagulov and Malcolm Gordon—Albazi has beaten since he joined the UFC roster. They boast a combined record of 53-23-1.
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