Former UFC champion Cody Garbrandt is planning a move down to the flyweight division to face Kai Kara-France.
And Kara-France is ready to deliver quite the welcome party.
The two are expected to meet in December with Gaarbrandt making his 125-pound debut.
“Yeah it is, we’re locked in. It’s been in the pipeline for quite a while, but the date was undecided and we were back and forth a little bit. I’d rather fight sooner rather than later, but I think due to personal issues Cody said December is a better date for him, and I don’t want to miss out on this fight,” Kara-France said in an interview with Submission Radio. “So, I just said let’s just lock it in. So, yeah, December 11th. I don’t know the location yet, but I know we’ll be squaring off. I can’t wait. Big fight for me, big name, high profile, but definitely a winnable fight. So, I want to test myself against ex-champs and get myself a title shot. So, best way to do that is take out high-profile fighters.”
Kara-France explained why the move could be tough for Garbrandt.
“Obviously him fighting at bantamweight hasn’t been working out the best, and I think it’s just a combination of things. Him trying to stay relevant, and I guess stay in title contention and dropping down a weight class. It’s happened before with TJ Dillashaw, thinking it’s going to be easier fights. But you can’t take the same shots,” he said. “I used to fight bantamweight as well and I used to walk forward more often and I could take the bigger shots. But when I dropped to flyweight, you gotta be smart and you gotta be very careful if you come forward, because your body can’t take those same punches.
“And I’ve done it, my body’s accustomed to this weight cut now. But this will be Cody’s first time doing it. So, that will be interesting to see how his body reacts to these kind of weight cuts. I think that might have been the reason to push it back to December. But I’m gonna be in camp pretty much from now onwards, just slowly building, upskilling at City Kickboxing and just getting better and bringing more tools to the table come fight night in December.”
Check out the complete interview below:
