"I want him to think he's got the upper hand"- Kai Kara-France warns Cody Garbrandt against underestimating him
Cody Garbrandt is staring into the barrel of his flyweight debut in the UFC against Kai Kara-France. His would-be opponent, however, recently warned Cody Garbrandt to exercise a certain degree of caution before jumping headfirst into this clash.
In an interview with Denis Shkuratov and Kacper Rosolowski of Submission Radio, Kai Kara-France talked about all things UFC. Standing at 5'4", Kara-France opened up about his experience in dealing with taller fighters.
In lighter weight divisions, height is often equated to one's ability to dominate shorter fighters. However, while in conversation with Shkuratov and Rosolowski, Kara-France detailed how and why Cody Garbrandt shouldn't make the same mistake.
"If he thinks he's going to walk me down and try to bully me, that's what I want people to do. I want people to think I'm gonna try to run and get out of these exchanges. But I kind of welcome that. I want him to think he's got the upper hand, then he's going to be walking into a straight right or a straight left," admitted Kara-France.
Kai Kara-France claims Cody Garbrandt will soon respect his ability
Having accrued a winning record over the course of his UFC career, Kai Kara-France boasts of four decision wins out of seven fights in the promotion. Although he has never displayed significant prowess for knockouts in the UFC, he has been a genuine knockout threat across his MMA career.
Speaking about his vicious striking, Kara-France declared that Cody Garbrandt was in for a rude awakening if he goes into the fight as the aggressor, trying to bludgeon the Kiwi.
"I see him being very aggressive right from the start, trying to bully me just because he's taller. But he'll know straight away, once I land that first punch clean on the chin, he'll realize, 'Okay I need to respect his power. I need to make sure I can't just walk in anymore," declared Kara-France.
Cody Garbrandt is still nursing his most recent loss at the hands of Rob Font. Having recorded four losses in his last five fights against the likes of T.J. Dillashaw and Pedro Munhoz, 'No Love' will be desperate to get back to winning ways. Whether Kai Kara-France will let him accomplish his goal is something that remains to be seen.
Watch the entire interview below: