Kai Kara-France is on the rise and Brandon Moreno wants to make sure he gets his proper due.
The former UFC flyweight champion takes on Kara-France next month at UFC 277 in a rematch for the interim belt with champion Deiveson Figueiredo out with an injury. Kara-France has positioned himself as a top title contender, taking out other names that were nearing a potential title shot themselves.
Moreno (19-5-2 MMA, 7-2-2 UFC) is well aware of Kara-France’s body of work since they last fought and takes it very seriously – something he thinks Kara-France’s previous opponents didn’t do.
“Kai is a real problem,” Moreno told MMA Junkie in Spanish. “I think one of the things that happened with his previous opponents is that they didn’t give him his respect. Both Cody Garbrandt and Askar Askarov, I think they saw themselves already past him.
“Speaking on Cody Garbrandt, for example, he was like, ‘I’m going to move down in weight, and I’m going to beat Kai, and I’ll be fighting for the belt next.’ He didn’t realize he had an incredible fighter in front of him, and the same goes with Askarov. Askarov was talking bad about me, and he was saying things on social media and in the media, and he was focused on the belt without realizing Kai was in front of him. I don’t want to make that mistake.”
oreno and Kara-France fought at UFC 245 back in December 2019. The Mexican standout beat Kara-France with a unanimous decision.
Despite having a win over him, Moreno doesn’t want to underestimate Kara-France. He thinks the City Kickboxing product has evolved plenty since 2019, both mentally and technically.
“I’ve definitely seen technical evolution from his part, 100 percent,” Moreno said. “But the biggest change that I’ve seen is that he’s gained a lot of confidence.
“After losing to (Brandon) Royval, he fought (Rogerio) Bontorin and something happened to him. He became a father, I believe he got married, and now has a family, so maybe that has to do with it. But he’s gained a lot of confidence, and that’s what’s dangerous.
“I feel like before he doubted a little bit, and now he goes for it. He goes in there without fear to face whoever is put in front of him. And add that Cody Garbrandt and Askar Askarov underestimated him completely without realizing how dangerous he was. Again, I don’t want to do that, and I will take all that he’s good at, and I’m going to respect it. My game plan will be based on that. I definitely see me beating him again, I have no doubt in that.”
