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James Kaiwhare Kara-France (born March 26, 1993) is a New Zealand professional mixed martial artist, who currently competes in the flyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of September 21, 2021, he is #6 in the UFC flyweight rankings.
Background
Kara-France started practicing Brazilian jiu-jitsu at the age of 10 but stopped after two years. After being bullied for his small stature in high school – Mount Albert Grammar School – he started training mixed martial arts as a whole. Kara-France attended Unitec Institute of Technology for a spell, but dropped out. He is partly of Maori ancestry.
Mixed martial arts career
Early career
In November 2010, Kara-France began his professional MMA career in his home city of Auckland, New Zealand, with a first-round TKO win over Ray Kaitiana.
Kara-France decided to drop out of the university after seeing a Facebook post promoting Tiger Muay Thai gym scholarship. He applied to the gym and was awarded the scholarship after try-outs. He moved to Phuket, Thailand, in 2013 where he trained and built his mixed martial arts record by fighting around Asia and The Pacific.
The Ultimate Fighter
In 2016, Kara-France competed in The Ultimate Fighter: Tournament of Champions - the 24th edition of the UFC-produced reality television series The Ultimate Fighter. He won his first fight with a 30-second KO win over Terrence Mitchell. His second and final fight in this tournament was in the quarterfinals, where he lost by decision to Alexandre Pantoja.
Ultimate Fighting Championship
Kara-France was signed by the UFC in July 2018 and he made his UFC debut on December 1, 2018 at UFC Fight Night: dos Santos vs. Tuivasa against Ashkan Mokhtarian. However, on November 21, 2018, Moktarian was pulled from the fight, citing an injury, and he was replaced by Elias Garcia. After both fighters getting knocked down, Kara-France won the fight via unanimous decision. Both fighters were awarded US$50,000 Fight of the Night bonuses.
Two months later, Kara-France faced Raulian Paiva on February 10, 2019 at UFC 234. He won the fight via split decision.
Kara-France faced Mark De La Rosa on August 31, 2019 at UFC Fight Night: Andrade vs. Zhang. He won the fight via unanimous decision.
Kara-France was briefly linked to a bout to Sergio Pettis on December 14, 2019 at UFC 245. However, in early October, Pettis revealed that he was entertaining offers from other promotions after the completion of his previous contract and did not currently have a fight lined up with the promotion. Kara-France instead faced Brandon Moreno. He lost the fight by unanimous decision.
Kara-France faced Tyson Nam on February 23, 2020 at UFC Fight Night 168. He won the fight via unanimous decision.
Kara-France was expected to face Alex Perez on May 16, 2020. However, on April 9, Dana White, the president of UFC announced that this event was postponed to a future date due to COVID-19 pandemic.
Kara-France faced Brandon Royval on September 27, 2020 at UFC 253. After both fighters being knocked down in the first round, Kara-France lost the fight via submission in the second round. This fight earned him the Fight of the Night award.
As the first bout of his new four-fight contract, Kara-France faced Rogério Bontorin on March 6, 2021 at UFC 259. He won the fight via knockout in round one. This fight earned him the Performance of the Night award.
Kara-France next faced former UFC Bantamweight Champion Cody Garbrandt, in Garbrandt's flyweight debut, on December 11, 2021 at UFC 269. He won the fight via TKO in the first round. The win also earned Kara-France his second consecutive Performance of the Night bonus award.
Kara-France is scheduled to face Askar Askarov on March 26, 2022 at UFC Fight Night 205.
Personal life
Kai and his wife Chardae have a son, Cobi (born 2021).
Championships and accomplishments
Mixed martial arts
Ultimate Fighting Championships
Fight of the Night (Two times) vs. Elias Garcia and Brandon Royval.
Performance of the Night (Two times) vs. Rogério Bontorin, Cody Garbrandt.
