Alexandre Pantoja Beats Kai Kara-France By Submission to Retain Title at UFC 317

Alexandre Pantoja extended his impressive reign over the flyweight division with a third-round submission win over Kai Kara-France to defend his belt at UFC 317.

Pantoja got off to a strong start in the first round. He came out swinging to engage Kara-France in a slugfest before changing levels and getting the fight to the mat. 

That was bad news for Kara-France. Pantoja nearly locked in an arm-triangle and easily worked to full mount. 

Pantoja continued his dominance in Round 2. He was once again aggressive on the feet, but didn’t even go back to his grappling to take another frame. 

Unfortunately for Kara-France, Pantoja went back to the grappling well in the third. 

Once the champion got the fight to the ground he was able to find a rear-naked choke, lock it in and secure yet another title defense. 

Pantoja’s age made the feat even more impressive:

Pantoja got off to a strong start in the first round. He came out swinging to engage Kara-France in a slugfest before changing levels and getting the fight to the mat. 

That was bad news for Kara-France. Pantoja nearly locked in an arm-triangle and easily worked to full mount. 

Pantoja continued his dominance in Round 2. He was once again aggressive on the feet, but didn’t even go back to his grappling to take another frame. 

Unfortunately for Kara-France, Pantoja went back to the grappling well in the third. 

Once the champion got the fight to the ground he was able to find a rear-naked choke, lock it in and secure yet another title defense. 

Pantoja’s age made the feat even more impressive:

Kara-France is yet another flyweight to find themselves on the losing end of a bout with Pantoja. Technically, it's a rematch nearly a decade in the making as Pantoja beat Kara-France on The Ultimate Fighter: Tournament of Champions back in 2016.

Pantoja is now on an eight-fight win streak that includes four successful title defenses. With wins over Brandon Moreno, Brandon Royval, Manel Kape and others, the obvious question is whether he'll move up to bantamweight.

The champion has been quick to shut that idea down. He broke down why he wants to stay at flyweight at a recent press conference.

 “People say, ‘You need to move on to bantamweight’ and no way, man. You have so many entertaining fights here. Joshua Van, that’s crazy. The guy, he grabbed The Golden Ticket from The Willy Wonka Factory, he have the ticket, that’s super crazy. If he gets past [Brandon] Royval, he’s the next in line. Of course, you have Kyoji [Horiguchi], you have some good names, Manel Kape’s there."

In the current landscape where champions routinely try to move around there is something to be said for thoroughly cleaning out a division.

As Pantoja noted, there are a few interesting options moving forward. Joshua Van is only 23 years old and already making a name for himself with a five-fight win streak. He earned an epic decision victory over Brandon Royval on the main card.

For now, it's hard to imagine anyone will be favored to take the belt from Pantoja.