Kai Kara-France has been removed from the UFC’s rankings after opting to take at least a year out from fighting to pursue other interests.

“[Kara-France] informed the UFC he would be taking the year off and that there are other things he wants to do,” Ariel Helwani reported on his show. “He is not retiring necessarily, but he is taking a break, he is taking at least a year off. He wants to get into some cultural things, some things that have nothing to do with fighting. He’s very spiritual, obviously, we’ve seen him do things for his culture, for his heritage, for his people, for his country. And he’s taken this break, as a result, removed himself from the testing pool. As a result he is out of the rankings. He is not released, but he’s not eligible to be ranked until he tells them that he is coming back and goes back to the pool.”

It’s a big decision to take a year out, particularly given that at 32 the former flyweight title contender is already starting to get towards the end of his prime years in the sport.

While Kara-France’s last fight was an unsuccessful title challenge against Alexandre Pantoja back in June, it’s worth noting that he’s now lost three of his last four bouts.

Perhaps more significantly though, Kara-France also suffered a training-room concussion back in 2023 that led to ongoing issues that forced him to take an extended break from competing to recover and undergo neurological tests.

Kara-France later revealed that in his first round of tests after the concussion he was only performing at 50% compared to other people of his age and education. However, 4-5 months later he was up to 90% and was able to return to fighting in August of last year.

Kara-France’s decision to now take an extended hiatus just over a year later comes at a time when his overall MMA record stands at 25-12 (+1nc), including an 8-5 run in the UFC so far.