UFC 317 results: Alexandre Pantoja taps Kai Kara-France in dominant title defense
In the co-feature of UFC 317 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Pantoja (30-5 MMA, 14-3 UFC) put his title on the line against an opponent he faced on Season 24 of "The Ultimate Fighter," Kai Kara-France. The fight was one-way traffic throughout for the champion, ultimately finding a rear-naked choke submission of Kara-France (25-12 MMA, 8-5 UFC) at 1:55 of Round 3.
Pantoja wasted little time letting Kara-France know he was in for a hard fight. After touching gloves, Pantoja rapidly applied pressure with strikes, leading straight to a takedown, and ending up on Kara-France's back with a tight body triangle. Pantoja calmly worked through submission attempts while adding a few hard strikes as the time ticked away on the dominant opening round.
Early in Round 2, Pantoja allowed the fight to progress on the feet for a couple of minutes. He won those striking exchanges before blitzing with a combination into a takedown. Kara-France worked his way up fairly quickly, but didn't gain momentum on the feet as Pantoja continued to land cleaner strikes.
Pantoja kept the pressure high by getting Kara-France to the ground early in Round 3. He once again found the back with plenty of time to work. This time, Pantoja went harder for the submission. He found the rear-naked choke opening and clamped down until the tap came.
After the fight, Joshua Van was invited into the octagon to face off with Pantoja, as he was announced as the next title challenger after defeating former title challenger Brandon Royval in a Fight of the Year candidate in the bout prior.
"He's a humble guy. He deserves to fight for the title next," Pantoja told Joe Rogan.
With the win, Pantoja picks up his fourth title defense as he extends his winning streak to eight. Half of the fights he's won during this stretch have come by way of a rear-naked choke.
Kara-France fails to capture UFC gold again. He fought for the vacant interim title against Brandon Moreno at UFC 277, but was also finished in the third round. Since that fight, he went 1-1, dropping a split decision to Amir Albazi, but rebounding with a first-round finish of Steve Erceg to earn another shot.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 317 results
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