Having someone like UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya in your gym can be a huge inspiration. The former interim-flyweight title challenger Kai Kara-France can attest to this fact. Both Kiwis train at City Kickboxing under Eugene Bareman. According to Kara-France, Adesanya was a huge factor in helping him recover from his loss to Brandon Moreno.

Kai-Kara-France was on a three-fight win streak when he faced Brandon Moreno for the interim flyweight title at UFC 277 last year. Kara-France put on a strong performance before a perfectly placed liver kick from the Mexican shut him down. The 30-year-old has been on a hiatus ever since.

Now, the Kiwi is ready to get back in the cage after shaking off the loss. He faces Amir Albazi this weekend at UFC on ESPN 46. As he looks to return to winning way against Albazi, Kara-France opened up about dealing with the loss against Moreno and how Adesanya was an inspiration for the same.

Kai Kara-France reveals how Israel Adesanya inspired him

Ahead of his fight this weekend, Kai Kara-France made an appearance on ‘The MMA Hour’ with Ariel Helwani. Talking to Helwani, Kara-France gave props to his teammate Israel Adesanya for beating archrival Alex Pereira at UFC 287. He recounted the loss at UFC 277 and how watching Adesanya’s win reignited his own competitive spirit.

Kara-France said, “I left it in the cage. I didn’t take it with me. You know, I was proud of the camp I put together. I was winning that fight until I wasn’t. And those are the positives we can take away from it.”

He continued, “It just shows that I’m right there with the best guys, you know?… It just showed that we were right there so… Having a teammate like Izzy who just beat a guy that has beaten him three times just reminds me that it’s possible.”

The flyweight star added, “It’s just something that I never lose sight of. That’s the end goal. It’s to be the flyweight world champion so… We’ve learned from that experience.”

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Adesanya’s win over Pereira was a monumental one. ‘Stylebender’ seemed to have met his match as Pereira had beaten him thrice with two of them being finishes. However, ‘Stylebender’ rose to the occasion and knocked out Pereira at UFC 287. For ‘Izzy’ the fourth time was the charm.

Do you think his CKB teammate can turn around his current situation as Adesanya did? What are your predictions for Kara-France vs. Albazi?

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Let us know in the comments below.