LAS VEGAS – Kai Kara-France has spoiled Cody Garbrandt’s flyweight debut.
The City Kickboxing product knocked out the former UFC bantamweight champion in his first fight at 125 pounds at Saturday’s UFC 269. Kara-France (23-9 MMA, 6-2 UFC) only needed the first round to dispatch Garbrandt (12-5 MMA, 7-5 UFC), getting the stoppage win at the 3:21 mark.
UFC 269 takes place Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.
It was an impressive showing by Kara-France.
The New Zealand native pressured Garbrandt right off the start. As soon as Kara-France was able to figure out the range, he dropped Garbrandt to the canvas with a clean combination. Garbrandt was visibly hurt and immediately got back to his feet.
DON'T BLINK 👀
[ @KaiKaraFrance | #UFC269 ] pic.twitter.com/D3gP2juBmV
— UFC (@ufc) December 12, 2021
In survival mode, Garbrandt tried to stay away from Kara-France and survive, but was only able to hold him off for a few seconds before getting dropped again. The referee had seen enough and called off the fight.
Kara-France now has back-to-back wins in his. He was coming off a 2-2 stretch. Kara-France had losses to Brandon Royval and current flyweight champion Brandon Moreno and wins over Tyson Nam and Rogerio Bontorin.
Kara-France called for the winner of the Moreno vs. Deiveson Figueiredo trilogy happening in early 2022 during his post-fight interview.
Meanwhile, Garbrandt is now on a 1-5 run that ended his impressive 11-0 start in the sport. He was coming off a decision loss to Rob Font last May at bantamweight. Garbrandt rose to prominence in 2015 and 2016 where he was able to capture the UFC 135-pound title in a dominant win over then-champion Dominick Cruz. That was his last win before going 1-5.
Up-to-the-minute results of UFC 269 include:
- Kai Kara-France def. Cody Garbrandt via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 3:21
- Sean O’Malley def. Raulian Paiva via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:42
- Josh Emmett def. Dan Ige via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Dominick Cruz def. Pedro Munhoz via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Tai Tuivasa def. Augusto Sakai via knockout (punches) – Round 2, 0:26
- Bruno Silva def. Jordan Wright via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:28
- Andre Muniz def. Eryk Anders via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 3:13
- Erin Blanchfield def. Miranda Maverick via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Ryan Hall def. Darrick Minner via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-27)
- Tony Kelley def. Randy Costa via TKO (elbows) – Round 2, 4:15
- Gillian Robertson def. Priscila Cachoeira via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:59
