I still really don't know how Kai Kara-France vs Askar Askarov wasn't the co-main event. I think that was the fight that everyone was looking forward to the most and it showed in the crowd's response. Obviously they were loud for the home town fighter in Matt Brown, but in terms of fights without a direct connection to the crowd, that got the loudest pop of the night. I'm glad this was the case because this was a huge fight and it really delivered. Regardless of when it happens, I believe this was the number one contender fight for me and I'll be really disappointed if Kai ends up having to fight again before his title shot. As for Askarov, I don't think his stock drops all that much. We still know that he's a very good fighter and he's not going anywhere. He's still firmly in the title conversation and I don't expect he'll need more than a couple of wins to earn a title shot.
When it comes to Kai Kara-France's performance, he was largely able to do exactly what he needed to do in order to get the win. To over simplify it, he needed to stop the takedowns and then throw volume strikes when the fight was on the feet. Askarov's grappling was just too much in the first round and he was able to control Kara-France for a long stretch of that round. However, I think an important part of that round is that Kai didn't go down too easily. He forced Askarov to work hard to get those takedowns and it seems like he may have slowed down a bit in the later rounds. That extra little bit of fatigue may have been the difference between landing a takedown or not in the 3rd round, which would have swung the outcome of the fight. The second round was his best round by far and he looked like he may actually be able to get the finish at times. He was landing shots with really solid power in combinations and Askarov was on the ropes for a bit. That left the 3rd round to decide the fight and it was razor thin. Askarov was on Kai's back for part of that round, but it didn't last very long and he really didn't even get a solid submission attempt out of it. It was all heart and grit on Kai's end to get out of that and then dig deep to try and land strikes for the remainder of the round. The part of the round that took place on the feet was pretty even, but I think the optics were on Kai's side. He looked a little fresher, so his strikes were a little more crisp and powerful, which could be what swayed the judges in his favor. I've seen a lot of people call this a robbery, which is honestly ridiculous. No fight that close is a robbery. I speculate that a lot of people saying that are folks who laid the big price and bet Askarov or had him in a parlay. When you have a fight that takes place this high in the rankings, you expect it to be a competitive fight, and that is what we've gotten. This fight and the performance from Kai were so much fun to watch.
When it comes to what is next for him, I think one way or another, it has to be for the title. Now, I was expecting to come into this and write about how Kai should just sit out until after Figueiredo vs Moreno 4 and take that next shot. However, Deveison Figueiredo is now campaigning to fight Kai for his next defense. Honestly, I think I'm on board for it. I said before the last fight that I would have liked for Figueiredo and Moreno to work their way back to each other, but the UFC went with the immediate trilogy. To do 4 consecutive fights is unprecedented and while I'm not a huge precedent guy, I'm not sure this is the time for it. If Figueiredo gets his way and fights Kai next, then I think it will have been earned and that's a fight I would be excited to see. It may not be all that dissimilar from this fight for Kai. He would probably be looking to push a pace and see if he can take advantage of Figueiredo's gas tank late. However, let's say that he's just trying to get a little more money out of the UFC and they do end up going with the quadrology fight next. I think Kara-France has to be the backup and then get the following title shot. I don't really know what other way there is to go because there's no one else for him to beat. To have him fight someone like Pantoja next would only risk not having a stand out contender at all. Kara-France beat Askarov, Askarov beat Pantoja, but now you're risking Pantoja beating Kara-France and then what is supposed to happen to the division following the quadrology? I think it is pretty obvious that Kara-France is getting the next title shot. The only question is does that come before Moreno vs Figueiredo 4 or not.
Askar Askarov, despite not getting the nod, did not fight poorly by any means. Like I mentioned above, a lot of people thought he won and they have a legitimate argument. The fight was way too close for me to disagree with whatever decision the judges came back with, but that is behind us. That was the first loss of Askarov's career and while I don't predict it will effect him, we've seen it happen in the past to some fighters. Askarov got off to a great start and was able to get Kara-France down and get to his back rather quickly. He had a few really close attempts at the rear naked choke, but nothing that seemed imminent. The second round was a rough one for him as he took quite a bit of damage on the feet. Askarov did show a good chin and heart to come back in the next round though, so while I'm sure he would have preferred to perform better, those are good qualities to have that we can now note going forward. The third round was close and I'm sure he and his team believe that the back control he had was the most significant thing that happened in the round, which should have gotten him the decision. I can't say I disagree, but it just didn't go his way this time. If anything, I think this loss could be a good thing for Askarov. It showed us that his striking stills needs some work and that he can be too reliant on his takedowns. If he can have his striking catch up to his wrestling or at least close the gap, then he won't have to be so desperate for a takedown in every round. Additionally, had his gas tank held up a little bit more, then maybe he would have been able to get that one last takedown that he needed. Those are more knit-picks than anything, but winning these high level fights is a much finer line. I don't think Askarov needs to make any drastic changes or anything like that, but he does need to continue his progression with his striking and maybe improve the cardio situation a little bit.
With that said, I don't expect that we'll see Askarov take a huge step back in his next fight. If Kara-France gets the next title shot against Figueiredo, then a matchup with Brandon Moreno makes perfect sense. That would become a pretty clear number one contender fight. That would leave Alexandre Pantoja on the outside looking in again, but someone has to be. I think Pantoja would have a serious chance to get that fight because of his history with Moreno, but we'll see how it plays out if that situation is actually presented to us. If Moreno isn't available or just sits and waits for a title shot, Askarov has a few options. The first of which is Pantoja, who has already been name dropped a few times today. We've already seen this fight once, with Askarov getting the win, but Pantoja is undefeated since and he's the highest ranked fighter left. I don't think there would be a ton of momentum behind this fight since we've seen it before, but it is a pretty clear option. I don't really know what to make of Alex Perez's situation as we haven't seen him since he lost to Figueiredo and that was before his first fight with Brandon Moreno. He's been booked against Matt Schnell a few times and that fight is cursed, so we just haven't seen it happen. However, I think we should take that as an indication as to what level of opponent that the UFC is looking for with Perez and that isn't where Askarov is at right now. Brandon Royval is an option, but he's sort of just starting to rebuild his stock after a few losses of his own, so I don't know that they're looking to thrust him back into a fight like Askarov. I think Matheus Nicolau might be pretty realistic. I would favor Askarov in that fight, but I think that might be the type of fight he gets next. Their timeline lines up too, so that can only help matters. The final option for him is potentially Cody Garbrandt. Again, I wouldn't be a huge fan of that matchup personally, but we know the UFC is looking to put Cody in big fights. It is unclear what weight class he'll return at whenever he does come back, so I won't put anymore time into thinking about it. I think if it was an option, the Moreno fight is the one I would want to see the most. Brandon Royval is almost a guarantee to put on a great fight, so putting him with Askarov would be fun just to see how it plays out. The final option that I think is realistic is Nicolau. I don't really know why, but I just sort of have a feeling that is the matchup that will get made.
What do you guys think? How did you score the fight? What did you think of Kai Kara-France's performance? Should he get the title shot next? What about Askar Askarov? Who do you want to see him fight next? Leave your thoughts in the comments and thanks for reading. Have a good one.
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