UFC 284 in Perth, Australia on February 11th has suffered another setback with the news that Kai Kara-France is out of his fight against Alex Perez after suffering an injury.
“Unfortunately due to injury, I’ve had to pull out of my upcoming fight in Perth,” Kara-France wrote on Instagram. “I’m gutted I won’t be able to fight in front of everyone in Australia.
“To everyone who supports me, I’m sorry. This has been frustrating but I know I’m making the right decision. Hopefully me and Alex Perez can run it back next year. Enjoy the holidays and stay safe. Will see you back in the Octagon 2023. Much love everyone!”
The New Zealander last fought in July, losing out to Brandon Moreno via TKO in a battle for the interim flyweight title.
Leading into that fight the 29-year-old had been on a three-fight winning streak, making a strong impression with two first round finishes via strikes against Rogerio Bontorin and Cody Garbrandt followed by a decision victory over Aksar Askarov.
At this stage it’s not clear if the UFC will be able to keep his opponent Perez on the card. The 30-year-old had also been on a three-fight winning streak not so long ago, but then went on to lose in a title challenge against Deiveson Figueiredo by way of a guillotine choke and then against Alexandre Pantoja via a neck crank.
UFC 284 had already been weakened recently with the news that a fight between Robert Whittaker and Paulo Costa had been scrapped, though the show will still proceed with two title fights still intact as lightweight champion Islam Makhachev takes on featherweight kingpin Alexander Volkanovski and Yair Rodriguez squares up to Josh Emmett to establish a new interim 145lb titleholder.
