His run since then has been dominant. Pantoja picked up decision wins over Royval and Steve Erceg before welcoming Kai Asakura to the promotion. In his fourth title fight in 17 months, Pantoja looked as sharp as ever and wrapped up a submission win midway through the second round at UFC 310, establishing him as arguably the second-greatest flyweight champion behind “Mighty Mouse.”
While Pantoja cemented himself as one of the greats, Kara-France was forced to take a bit of a journey. He returned a year after his loss to Moreno for a main event against Amir Albazi, and despite many feeling like he did more than enough to get the bounce-back win, the judges handed Albazi the split decision verdict.
Three months later, Kara-France hoped to keep his name in the title picture with a win over Manel Kape at UFC 293, but a concussion suffered in training forced Kara-France to pull out of the fight in the waning weeks of camp, delaying his return. More than a year would pass before Kara-France returned, but he did so in impressive style. Fighting in Erceg’s backyard of Perth at UFC 305, Kara-France connected with a bomb in the first round to re-establish himself as a top contender and setting up a long-awaited date with Pantoja.
Nine years and more than 30 combined fights later after their meeting on The Ultimate Fighter, Pantoja and Kara-France get to officially collide with UFC gold on the line. Both men are far superior to the versions of themselves that locked horns in the old TUF gym years ago, and their track records since that bout translates to a fight that should get fans out of their seats on June 28.
