Top 10 flyweights will collide when the Ultimate Fighting Championship returns from a one-week sabbatical with UFC on ESPN 46, as Kai Kara-France squares off with Amir Albazi in the five-round headliner this Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Neither man wants to take a step back at 125 pounds.
As Kara-France and Albizi make final preparations for their forthcoming battle, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:
30: Years of age for Kara-France, who was born on March 26, 1993 in Auckland, New Zealand.
11: Kara-France wins by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 46% of his career total (24). His list of UFC victims: Cody Garbrandt and Rogerio Bontorin. Kara-France holds three other wins by submission (12%) and 10 more by decision (42%).
557: Significant strikes landed by Kara-France as a UFC flyweight, placing him fifth on the promotion’s all-time list at 125 pounds. Only Demetrious Johnson (1,059), Joseph Benavidez (824), Tim Elliott (751) and the aforementioned Moreno (740) have been credited with more.
52: Rounds completed by Kara-France as a professional mixed martial artist. He has gone the distance on 14 different occasions and carries a 10-4 record in those bouts.
149: Combined victories between the nine opponents—Moreno (twice), Brandon Royval, Tatsumitsu Wada, Jumayi Ayideng, Mark Striegl, Gustavo Falciroli, Batgerel Danaa, Agustin Delarmino and Chad George—who have defeated Kara-France. They sport a .709 cumulative winning percentage at 149-59-7.
29: Years of age for Albazi, who was born in Baghdad on Oct. 27, 1993.
9: Albazi victories by submission, accounting for 56% of his career total. His methods of choice: five rear-naked chokes, three kimuras and one triangle choke. Albizi owns five other victories by knockout or technical knockout (31%) and two more by decision (13%).
59: Seconds needed for Albazi to put away Pavlo Kulish with a rear-naked choke under the World Ultimate Full Contact banner on Aug. 22, 2009. More than 13 years later, it remains his fastest finish to date.
1: Loss on the Albazi ledger. He wound up on the wrong side of a unanimous decision against Jose Torres at a Brave Combat Federation event in April 2019.
.695: Cumulative winning percentage between the four opponents—Costa, Francisco Figueiredo, Zhalgas Zhumagulov and Malcolm Gordon—Albazi has beaten since he joined the UFC roster. They boast a combined record of 53-23-1.