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Amir Albazi wants his first UFC championship opportunity after his performance against Kai Kara-France at UFC Vegas 74 this past Saturday. The ‘Prince’ earned the most-high profile win of his UFC career thus far, squeezing past Kara-France via split decision.
Albazi vs. Kara-France was very close. The former moved forward and pressured the City Kickboxing product, who was forced to deal with the threat of the takedown. The latter had some solid takedown defense and found success with stiff right hands. When it went to the judges’ scorecards, two of them gave Albazi the fight with 48-47 scores.
During his post-fight interview with Michael Bisping, the UFC contender conceded that the fight was closer than he had intended.
“I know it was a close fight,” said Albazi. “It’s not how I planned this fight to go, but it is what it is. I showed my guts. I showed what I can bring to the table. I can stand with these guys, no problem at all. I don’t feel the punches, I don’t feel anything. I’m just having fun, maybe a bit too much fun.
“I could take it to the ground if I want,” continued Albazi. “I didn’t follow the gameplan. I had a bit too much fun out there, but next time I come in, I like to put on finishes. A win is a win, but next time you see me here, I’m going to put on a better show and give a finish to you guys.”
Amir Albazi: Give me a title shot
After getting past Kara-France, the 29-year-old said there was only one fight he wanted in his next Octagon appearance: the winner of Brandon Moreno vs. Alexandre Pantoja. The ‘Assassin Baby’ defends the UFC flyweight championship against Pantoja at UFC 290, the upcoming pay-per-view event scheduled for July 8 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Should the winner of that fight get out of Las Vegas unscathed, Albazi hopes they can turn around immediately.
“There is only one thing I want,” said Albazi. “I want to get that title. That’s all that matters. Abu Dhabi, Oct. 21, I know they’re coming to Abu Dhabi, that’s my people. Give me that fight, Pantoja-Moreno, whoever wins that fight, I want to be next. I want to get my title. I’m next. Let’s go.”
Kai Kara-France not dwelling on loss to Amir Albazi
As for Kai Kara-France, the 30-year-old said he was ‘feeling confident’ he won the fight, but was not going to focus on the loss.
“This is the sport,” said Kara-France during the ESPN post-fight show. “At the highest level, it’s a game of inches. I know I’ve said that before, but it’s subjective. It’s what the judges are scoring. If they’re scoring damage, if they’re scoring control, aggression, all of those things. I was feeling confident when they were calling the announcement, but hey, hats off to Amir.
“I’m not going to be one to dwell on it,” continued Kara-France. “Congrats to him for winning and bringing the fight to me and putting on a show. It was awesome for flyweights to be on this headline main event, so I can’t really be too down on the result. I just got to go again. That’s it.”
Kara-France has now lost his past two fights. Prior to this, ‘Don’t Blink’ suffered a third-round TKO loss to Moreno for the interim UFC flyweight championship at UFC 277 this past July.
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