Amir Albazi is one step closer to a shot at the flyweight title after winning his first UFC main event.
Although he had to sweat out the reading of the official scores after five close rounds, Albazi (17-1 MMA, 5-0 UFC) remained undefeated in the promotion by winning a very close split decision over former interim title challenger Kai Kara-France (24-11 MMA, 7-4 UFC). Dueling scores of 48-47 were turned in by the cageside judges, declaring Albazi the winner of the flyweight main event of UFC on ESPN 45 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
The fight began at a tentative pace for the opening minute before Albazi shot in to clinch against the cage. The position stalled out as the referee called for action, and they returned to the center to exchange strikes, with Albazi controlling the cage. Kara-France began moving forward and landed some nice punches and leg kicks. Albazi reset and then returned to moving forward with strikes of his own. The back-and-forth round came to a close with both fighters taunting and staring each other down after the horn.
Adding some spice to this main event 🌶
Round 2️⃣ starting now! #UFCVegas74 pic.twitter.com/Fk3n85DOWl
— UFC (@ufc) June 4, 2023
Sharp jabs from both landed early in the second round. The flyweights covered every corner of the octagon as they took turns offering strikes. Kara-France worked leg kicks, while both found a home for the overhand right.
Albazi implemented his grappling game in the third as he dragged Kara-France to the mat. With over three minutes to work, Albazi began working from the back, offering short punches while maintaining control of the position to set up submissions. Kara-France threw punches over his head, but soon found himself fighting off a very deep rear-naked choke attempt. After narrowly slipping out of the choke, Kara-France worked his way to reverse the position and ended up raining down strikes from the top in the final seconds before the horn.
The first half of the fourth was spent on the feet. A few intermittent strikes were exchanged with Kara-France leading the action. Albazi went for the takedown again, but had no success.
Kara-France scored with clean strikes early in the fifth. Just as momentum began to settle in his favor, Albazi looked to change the tide with a takedown. However, Kara-France kept things standing and got back to work leading the dance in the striking department. In the final seconds of the fight, a brawl broke out, but neither man landed a severely punishing strike, and the fight would go to the scorecards.
The judges were split in their decision, with Chris Lee and Sal D’Amato scoring the fight in Albazi’s favor, while Mike Bell had the fight for Kara-France.
During his post-fight interview, Albazi made his case for a shot at the title. He entered the fight on back-to-back stoppage victories over Francisco Figueiredo and Alessandro Costa. Albazi is undefeated through five fights under the UFC banner.
After a big win tonight, @AmirAlbazi makes his case for a title shot 🏆 #UFCVegas74 pic.twitter.com/u3wnWwqnYe
— UFC (@ufc) June 4, 2023
On the other side, Kara-France has now lost his last two fights. His previous outing as a vacant interim title loss to Brandon Moreno at UFC 277 last July. Prior to his two-fight skid, Kara-France won three straight. He stopped Rogerio Bontorin and former bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt, in addition to a unanimous decision win over Askar Askarov.
Full UFC on ESPN 45 results include:
- Amir Albazi def. Kai Kara-France via split decision (48-47, 47-48, 48-47)
- Alex Caceres def. Daniel Pineda via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Jim Miller def. Jesse Butler via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 0:23
- Tim Elliott def. Victor Altamirano via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Karine Silva def. Ketlen Souza via submission (kneebar) – Round 1, 1:45
- Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos def. Abubakar Nurmagomedov via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Daniel Santos def. Johnny Munoz via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-27)
- Don’Tale Mayes def. Andrei Arlovski via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 3:17
- John Castaneda def. Muin Gafurov via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-27)
- Muhammad Naimov def. Jamie Mullarkey via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 2:59
- Elise Reed def. Jinh Yu Frey via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Da’Mon Blackshear def. Luan Lacerda TKO (punches) – Round 2, 3:54
- Philipe Lins def. Maxim Grishin via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 45.
