Kai Kara France understands how Brandon Moreno operates inside the Octagon.
He’s already a first-hand witness to the former flyweight champion’s prowess in a fist fight – and that’s why the warrior of proud Māori heritage is preparing for carnage at UFC 277, where interim gold will hang in the balance.
Kara France knows what it will take to get his hand raised on July 30th, and regardless of how long the fight lasts, he guarantees a war.
“[Whether it’s] three rounds, five rounds; we’ll be pushing the pace all the way through,” the 29-year-old assured The AllStar. “I expect a dog fight and I expect it to be messy.”
“I know he’s motivated, I know he’s a hard worker and he’s gonna come in ready to go. Brandon’s mindset is his most powerful weapon and I plan on taking it to this guy.”
The gameplan? disrupt that mindset. Move forward and be first.
Well, perhaps somewhat more nuanced than that given the knowledgable City Kickboxing coaches behind him – but the Kiwi recognizes that Moreno’s best work is done once he’s built a little steam.
“I can’t let him gain momentum because that’s when he’s at his best; when he feeds off that. That’s where he has his most success, so I have to shut that down straight away… I want to make it my fight right from the get-go. I want to assert my dominance right from the start and show that I’m not taking a back step… That’s the only way this fight’s gonna end up – us both bloody, and who just wants it more.”
As the saying goes – prepare for the worst and expect the best; that’s the New Zealand contender’s exact frame of mind as the clash draws near.
“I expect me to find the targets and I expect me to put him away. I want to make this fight look easy…” as Kara France said those words, his son began cooing off-screen.
“Even my son agrees,” he laughed. “He thinks I’m gonna put on a show and that’s what I plan on doing.”
Coming off the back of a three-round decision win over the ‘boogeyman’ of the 125-pound division, Askar Askarov (with a staph infection no less), “Don’t Blink” made it abundantly clear that Moreno’s wrestling pedigree doesn’t concern him.
“I know he’s gonna try and take me to the ground, I know he’s gonna try and make me scramble and I welcome that. I’m not gonna be scared of this guy’s ground game… I just defeated a guy that was a national champ in wrestling. A guy that never lost. A guy that drew [with] Brandon.”
“[Askarov was] a guy that no one wanted to fight. Everyone in the top five got offered that fight and no one wanted to take it – and that’s why I got awarded the title fight… I didn’t just sit on a win over a former champion, I went out there and showed why I’m the best guy…”
With that win in his back pocket, Kara France holds uber confidence in his ability to keep the fight standing, and believes “whatever Brandon brings to the table, we’ll have an answer for.”
