MMAOB staff writer Adam Martin takes a deeper look at the co-main event of UFC 277, a five-round interim flyweight title bout between Brandon Moreno and Kai Kara-France. The event takes place on Saturday, July 30 at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
Brandon Moreno (-210)
Moreno (19-6-2) is the former UFC flyweight champion and the current No. 1 contender. The 28-year-old Mexican is 7-3-2 in the UFC, with notable wins over Deiveson Figueiredo, Brandon Royval, and Kara-France from their first fight in 2019. Moreno is one of the most well-rounded flyweights in the UFC. He has great wrestling skills and great standup to go along with excellent conditioning and a fantastic chin. There are not many holes in his game other than he tends to take too much damage in his fights. But often he is able to withstand the punishment and finish his opponents. There is a lot to like about Moreno and he has a good chance to win the interim UFC flyweight title.
Kai Kara-France (+175)
Kara-France (24-9, 1 NC) is the No. 2 contender in the UFC flyweight division. The 29-year-old New Zealand native is 7-2 overall in the UFC with notable wins over Askar Askarov, Cody Garbrandt, and Rogerio Bontorin. Kara-France is an excellent striker who possesses massive KO power for his weight class, and he’s shown off his power multiple times during his UFC career. He is also improving his grappling and his conditioning is excellent, as well. Although Kara-France has suffered a couple of losses in the Octagon, overall he has been a great soldier in the UFC flyweight division. He has been making significant improvements and it will certainly be interesting to see if he is able to make the adjustments and defeat Moreno when they rematch for the interim flyweight belt.
Fight Breakdown: This should be an awesome rematch for the UFC interim flyweight title. Moreno and Kara-France previously met three years ago at UFC 245 and it was a highly-competitive, back-and-forth battle between two of the sport’s top fighters at 125lbs. Moreno won that fight, but Kara-France held his own. Three years later and I’m expecting another very close fight. Both guys are at the top of their games right now and they should put on a show for the fans. Just like the first fight, I believe this rematch is going to be very competitive and it likely goes the distance. While I picked Moreno to win the first fight, I am leaning towards Kara-France this time around. Both guys are excellent, but I view this fight as a much closer fight than the odds suggest. I believe Kara-France has made some significant improvements in his game the last few years and while Moreno is great himself, I also believe he has taken a lot of damage in his last few fights and it could come back to haunt him here. I’m expecting the fight to go the distance, but at the end of the 25 minutes, I believe Kara-France will land the harder, more damaging blows and come away with a decision victory.
Prediction: Kai Kara-France
