Israel Adesanya’s City Kickboxing teammates Kai Kara-France, Carlos Ulberg added to UFC 259

It’s become something of a tradition that when Israel Adesanya fights, his teammates join him on the card.

That will be no different at UFC 259, when middleweight champion Adesanya moves up to light heavyweight to fight Jan Blachowicz and try to claim a second belt in the champion vs. champion headliner of the March 6 event.

UFC officials announced Thursday that Adesanya’s City Kickboxing teammates Kai Kara-France and Carlos Ulberg have been added to the UFC 259 undercard.

Kara-France (21-9 MMA, 4-2 UFC), who is No. 10 in the latest USA TODAY Sport/MMA Junkie flyweight rankings, will meet No. 11-ranked Rogerio Bontorin (16-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) in a matchup of 125-pound competitors looking to take the next step into title contention.

Ulberg (3-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC), meanwhile, will attempt to make a splash in his first official octagon appearance. The striking specialist earned a contact on a November Dana White’s Contender Series card, impressing UFC president White with a knockout in just over two minutes. He’ll take on Kennedy Nzechukwu (7-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC), who is also a veteran of DWCS and has split his first two UFC appearances.

UFC 259 airs on pay-per-view following prelims expected on ESPN and ESPN+. The event does not have an official location or venue at this time.

With the additions, the latest UFC 259 lineup now includes:

• Jan Blachowicz vs. Israel Adesanya – for light heavyweight title
• Amanda Nunes vs. Megan Anderson – for women’s featherweight title
• Petr Yan vs. Aljamain Sterling – for bantamweight title
• Aleksandar Rakic vs. Thiago Santos
• Dominick Cruz vs. Casey Kenney
• Drew Dober vs. Islam Makhachev
• Askar Askarov vs. Joseph Benavidez
• Sean Brady vs. Jake Matthews
• Randy Costa vs. Trevin Jones
• Aalon Cruz vs. Uros Medic
• Tim Elliott vs. Jordan Espinosa
• Amanda Lemos vs. Livinha Souza
• Kyler Phillips vs. Song Yadong
• Rogerio Bontorin vs. Kai Kara-France
• Kennedy Nzechukwu vs. Carlos Ulberg