Kiwi UFC star beaten in "daylight robbery"

By Christopher Reive

Kai Kara-France’s journey back to a UFC title shot will have to take a longer route.

In his first fight this year, the Kiwi flyweight fell to a tough split decision against Iraqi fighter Amir Albazi in their headline bout in Las Vegas.

The first time in almost six years that a non-title men’s flyweight fight had headlined a UFC card, No 3-ranked Kara-France and No 7 Albazi lived up to the expectations that come with being the main attraction in a high-level back-and-forth fight.

The decision was, however, marred with controversy. In a close fight, there were three clear rounds – round three to Albazi; rounds four and five to Kara-France – and it looked like the first two would swing the decision.

The judges all agreed on round two to Albazi, while two gave round one to Kara-France – but only two gave the Kiwi round four; a round in which he outstruck Albazi 29-7 and landed a takedown.

That saw Albazi edge the win with 48-47 scores in his favour on two of the cards, and set Kara-France’s pathway back to the top of the division back a step.

Fans and fighters alike on social media overwhelmingly believed Kara-France should have won the fight, with Israel Adesanya particularly unhappy with the decision.

The pair fought a competitive opening round, with Albazi the aggressor trying to back Kara-France up against the fence and work his grappling, while the Kiwi was comfortable fighting on the counter and moving back into space.

Kara-France looked to have gotten the better of most exchanges and land cleaner shots in the opening round, and the competitiveness of the two was on full display at the end of the round when, before going back to their corners, they came face-to-face to exchange words.

It was more of the same in the second round, though this time it looked like it was edged by Albazi.

The third round was a clear victory for Albazi, who was finally able to secure a takedown on Kara-France and look to work on the ground hunting submissions. While he spent most of the round with Albazi on his back, Kara-France remained calm and was able to get out of what looked like a chokehold tight enough to end a fight before landing some big shots late in the round, though it was clearly one in favour of his counterpart.

From there, Kara-France stepped on the gas. He came out with urgency in the fourth and fifth rounds, throwing combinations with volume and thwarting the grappling of Albazi.

But with the judges going the way of Albazi, Kara-France will be bumped down the rankings in the week ahead and having to go back to the drawing board after his second loss in a row.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission