The UFC 284 card keeps on growing, with flyweight action the most recent addition to the promotion’s second PPV of 2023.
That fight will see Kai Kara-France (24-10, 1NC) look to bounce back from his interim title fight loss to Brandon Moreno, when he takes on Alex Perez (24-7) in Perth, Australia on February 11, 2023 (Feb. 12 local time).
MMA Junkie was first to report news of the booking.
Kai “Don’t Blink” Kara-France had put together a solid three-fight win streak prior to his setback against Moreno, which ended in a TKO loss to the former champ this past July. Wins over Rogerio Bontorin, former bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt, and Askar Askarov landed him in that interim opportunity, however, and the 29-year old from New Zealand remains ranked #3 at flyweight under the UFC’s official rankings.
Alex Perez came up short in his own title fight, against Deiveson Figueiredo, in November 2020. He has fought just once since, with a number of fights falling through in the past year or so. That lone bout, meanwhile, came against Alexandre Pantoja, and ended in Perez succumbing to a neck crank roughly 90 seconds into the fight.
Despite those setbacks and relative inactivity, Perez has held onto the #5 ranking in the division.
The UFC returns to Australia for the first time since prior to the coronavirus pandemic with UFC 284, which takes place at the RAC Arena in Perth. Two title fights top the docket; thus far, the following match-ups have been announced for the card:
- Islam Makhachev (c) vs. Alexander Volkanovski — for the UFC lightweight championship
- Josh Emmett vs. Yair Rodriguez — for the vacant interim UFC featherweight championship
- Robert Whittaker vs. Paulo Costa
- Justin Tafa vs. Parker Porter
- Tyson Pedro vs. Zhang Mingyang
- Joshua Culibao vs. Melsik Baghdasaryan
- Jack Jenkins vs. Don Shainis
- Jimmy Crute vs. Alonzo Menifield
- Kleydson Rodrigues vs. Shannon Ross
- Kai Kara-France vs. Alex Perez
