"He is expected to win this" - Chael Sonnen believes training around Israel Adesanya and Alexander Volkanovski can have a unique impact on Kai Kara-France heading into UFC 277

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Chael Sonnen (L), Kai Kara-France (M), and Brandon Moreno (R) [ Image credits: Getty Images and @theassassinbaby /Instagram ]

In an episode of Beyond The Fight, hosted by Chael Sonnen, 'The Bad Guy' spoke about how Kai Kara-France has a unique advantage due to his affiliation with City Kickboxing.

City Kickboxing in New Zealand is known for being the home of two other current UFC champions: Israel Adesanya and Alexander Volkanovski. Sonnen spoke about how this creates the expectation within fighters that they will bring home the belt.

The former UFC middleweight argued that this can alleviate some of the pressure for Kara-France, stating:

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"There is something to be said in all of sports for momentum. Nobody has momentum like City Kickboxing. Wherever you live guys, wherever in the hell you live, do you have a world champion in your neighborhood? Most of you just said no... It's a very rare thing. Where Kai Kara goes every single day of his life, he has three. It's not a big deal, it's expected. He is expected to win this.

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Sonnen went on to compare this with his own experience, given 'The Bad Guy' has challenged for a championship belt on many occasions. He explained how there was a lot of pressure on him in those situations, saying:

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"I fought for six world championships. When I got to the plane, I had a whole team waiting there, patting me on the back. They were proud of me — proud of me to have this opportunity. It's very different, there's a lot of pressure, and I was honored to try and do it for my home town."

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He claims Kara-France will have less pressure due to City Kickboxing's atmosphere and, therefore, will fight better. Whether that is the case will be revealed on Saturday night at UFC 277.

You can watch the full episode of Beyond The Fight below:

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Chael Sonnen believes Kai Kara-France is the "better fighter" and will win the interm title

Chael Sonnen predicts that Kai Kara-France will take home the interim belt on Saturday night. The retired fighter from West Linn, Oregon, seems to believe that more than just intangibles will make Kara-France victorious, stating:

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"I didn't give you the xs and os. I didn't talk about the jab and slipping outside of the kicks. I didn't get into the conditioning and the intangibles... I didn't get into the height and the reach, but it's not always about that... When it's all said and done and they tear that cage down Saturday night, one guy was a better fighter than the other guy. I submit for you in this case: the better fighter is Kai Kara-France."

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In saying this, Chael Sonnen seems to believe that Kara-France will win because of his skills as a fighter more than anything else.

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