Kai Kara-France’s win on Saturday night was a weird one.
The City Kickboxing fighter stopped Brazil’s Rogerio Bontorin with a first-round knockout on the preliminary card of UFC 259 in Las Vegas. The stoppage came with five seconds remaining.
Kara-France (22-9 MMA, 5-2 UFC) had to work for the win, as he was dominated for the majority of the round on the ground. Bontorin (16-3 MMA, 2-2 UFC) was able to get the back mount and threaten with many tight rear-naked chokes. With seconds left on the clock, Kara-France got back to his feet and connected with a combination that stunned Bontorin and then dropped him face first to the canvas.
The New Zealander walked away in celebration before referee Herb Dean stepped in. It seemed that Dean didn’t wave off the fight despite intervening, causing Kara-France to rush in to strike a downed Bontorin after taking a victory lap. Dean stopped Kara-France in his tracks before he was able to, though. Bontorin appeared upset at Kara-France’s attempt and threw his mouth piece. Nothing escalated between the two flyweights beyond that point.
Here’s video of the fight-ending sequence and ensuing confusion (via Twitter):
After surviving multiple submission attempts, @kaikarafrance got up and landed the walk-off shots 💥
Stream #UFC259 on ESPN+ ➡️ https://t.co/pOphkmMf0r pic.twitter.com/Txh4Xt2sBN
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) March 7, 2021
With the stoppage win, Kara-France was able to bounce back from a submission loss to Brandon Royval at UFC 253 back in September. The 27-year-old is 2-2 in his past four trips to the octagon. The win over Bontorin marks Kara-France’s first knockout win of his UFC career.
