Kai Kara-France, despite failing in his initial UFC title match, is confident about returning to a championship position and is determined to make the most of it when it happens. The primary step toward his goal is taking place this weekend when he leads UFC Vegas 74 against Amir Albazi, a surging contender, in a five-round match at the UFC APEX. This will be Kara-France’s first fight since being defeated by the now undisputed champion Brandon Moreno in an interim flyweight title fight at UFC 277 in July.

While the defeat was painful at the time, Kara-France found motivation in his teammate Israel Adesanya, the UFC middleweight champion, who overcame hardship to emerge victorious. Kara-France said “Moreno is a skilled fighter and a great champion. He did an excellent job against Deiveson Figueiredo. He made it look simple, which shows we were right there.” A teammate like Adesanya, who defeated an opponent that had beaten him three times before, reminds Kara-France that it is achievable. “The ultimate aim is to be the flyweight world champion,” he added.

On his eleventh walk to the octagon, Kara-France aims to win his fourth victory in five appearances. Albazi enters his first UFC main event on the back of a five-fight win streak, including a flawless 4-0 promotional run. While some fighters may let the misery of defeat to Moreno linger, Kara-France has let go of the negativity of the result and left it in the octagon. Kara-France pointed out that he was proud of his camp and was winning the fight before he wasn’t. That, he stated, is a good sign, demonstrating that he is on the same level as the top fighters.

Furthermore, he is older, wiser, and more experienced, which he believes will work to his advantage this time around. “We’ve learned from that experience, being in my first five-rounder, my first title fight. I’m 30 now, and I’ve got more experience, and I’m a lot wiser, so we just do it again,” Kara-France said.