Later this month, Kai Kara-France is heading to Las Vegas for the biggest fight of his career - and The Morning Rumble recently sat down to chat with him about it.
The Kiwi flyweight has been grinding for over a decade, and now he’s locked in to face Alexandre Pantoja for the flyweight title at UFC 317 during International Fight Week at the end of the month.
The Morning Rumble caught up with Kai yesterday morning (June 4), where he says he’s been manifesting this moment for a long time.
But now, he says, it feels different. “Maybe it's because of my maturity and where I'm at in my career and where I'm in my life,” he told us. “Everything's flowing, you know, my whanau’s thriving. You know, my beautiful wife and two boys.
“That's where I'm putting energy into. And if I'm not at home, I'm in the gym just trying to work to be my best.”
Speaking about his opponent Alexandre Pantoja, Kai describes him as “tough guy, durable. Comes to scrap.”
“So I’ve got a fight in front of me, but I’m ready for it.”
So what would it mean to bring the belt home?
“I’ve visualized this for 15 years,” Kai said. “All the highs and lows of the fight game. But I keep turning up and there's no better time than now than to put my culture, and being Māori, on the world stage. And that's my anchor. You know, that's the fuel and the mauri I'm feeding off.
“So it's bigger than me, this fight. All my people are behind me. So I know that I'm not alone. And I tap into that.”
And it’s not just the fighter side of Kai that’s impressive - he’s all about balance. “Walking into the UFC, fighting the best guys in the world, you know, I have to channel that version of myself.
“But then when I come back home, I mean, I can be that unconditional love, compassionate, sensitive father figure, husband, brother, son.”
We wrapped it up by telling Kai what we already know: the whole country is behind him. And no matter what happens in Vegas, he’s already made Aotearoa proud.
Go well, Kai.
Check out Kai's full chat with The Morning Rumble:
