Kai Kara-France fell victim to a controversial decision loss last time out against Amir Albazi. He’s lost two on the trot as of now, which could move him further away from the title picture. However, the concerning fact about his two losses is that he was dealing with some concussion issues, which he revealed ahead of his UFC 305 clash against former title contender, Steve Erceg.

It’s been over a year since we saw ‘Don’t Blink’ in action. Even before that, he took another year-long break before fighting Amir Albazi, and as per Kai Kara-France’s recent revelations, he had to stay away from training for six months because of a concussion.

All about Kai Kara-France’s concussion & injury

The six months that Kai Kara-France stayed without contact training contributed a lot to the losses he suffered on a back-to-back basis. However, he had to do that because that’s what doctors advised him to do. During the media day ahead of this weekend’s UFC PPV, Kara-France claimed that the six months gave him a lot of “clarity” as to how he should approach his well-being so that he doesn’t overdo more than his body can handle.

“Time away has given me clarity, taking six months off contact is probably the best thing I could do, listening to all the specialists, all the guys here to save you from yourself, I guess fighters and athletes are going to be too tough for their own good,” said Kai Kara-France while speaking to the reporters ahead of UFC 305.

Additionally, the New Zealand fighter also mentioned having to undergo several neurological tests, and in a light-hearted manner, Don’t Blink’ claimed that the experience was nothing less than a multi-hour long test. These tests included a multitude of exercises aimed at evaluating Kara-France’s cognitive capabilities.

“I did all these balance tests and eye tests and with the neurologist, it felt like an exam, I had a three-hour exam that I had to go through, like puzzles, memory tests, drawing tests, and it’s not to see how (good) you are at drawing, it’s to see how good you are at multitasking,” Kai Kara-France further stated. It wasn’t as easy as it sounds, drawing and solving puzzles, because initially, the 125-pounder struggled to find his footing.

“At the start, my test wasn’t that good I was getting like 50% for my age and education, and then four months later I did the same test and I was testing at 90%. It goes to show I was always going to heal, I just had to give it time,” Kai Kara-France added. But did you know that he had some support during his time of need? Yes, he did, and it was his favorite rugby team.

‘Don’t Blink’ got the aid of the New Zealand Warriors

Rugby is a big sport in New Zealand, and as such, Kai Kara-France has his favorite team, the New Zealand Warriors. The UFC flyweight star even trained and taught the Warriors’ players some wrestling moves. To return the favor, the players contacted Kara-France when he was going through his concussion problems, and were ready to offer the aid of their medical team’s expertise to help him out with his injury, especially Dr. James Cunningham.

“They immediately said I could use any of their staff… So I saw Dr. James Cunningham, their neurologist, and he’s seen it all,” Kai Kara-France told ‘CODE SPORTS’. “He was like, ‘You’re not as bad as the footy boys, but you’ve still got something going on,'” the UFC star added. Now, the main question is – can ‘Don’t Blink’ compete to his full capacity against Steve Erceg? That remains to be seen.

A third consecutive loss could spell trouble for Kai Kara-France, with a huge possibility of moving down the rankings. Nevertheless, what do you think about his chances this weekend? Drop your comments below.