UFC 310: Alexandre Pantoja open to Kai Kara-France flyweight title ...

“Kai Kara-France is a huge fighter. That’s someone I want to fight, of course, but I’m not a matchmaker,” Pantoja said.

“Give me a name, give me a time, and I’ll whatever guy, all across the world. Give me Jon Jones – give me a little time and I could fight him. That’s what I want. I want to be the best flyweight and the UFC give me that opportunity; the UFC give me the opportunity to show the world how good I am.”

UFC president Dana White was also asked if Kara-France made the most sense as the next man up for the flyweight title, responding: “I don’t know, we’ll see.”

Pantoja and Kara-France have shared the cage before, with Pantoja claiming a decision win over his Kiwi counterpart during their time on the reality TV show The Ultimate Fighter in 2016. The two were actually teammates in the season, but were drawn against one another after both beating their first-round opponents in the elimination-style show.

An exhibition fight officially, the result didn’t go on either man’s professional record and Kara-France has been vocal about wanting to be the next to challenge for Pantoja’s crown.

Pantoja, 34, hasn’t lost a fight since dropping a decision to Askar Askarov in 2020, now on a seven-fight winning streak with three of those wins by submission. Kara-France, 31, has won four of his last six – including a win over Askarov – with three of those wins by first-round knockout.

Pantoja, who called out retired former champion Demetrious Johnson after the win on Sunday, added to thoughts on what was next for him by noting he had no intention of moving up the challenge for the bantamweight title unless the UFC paid him to do so.

“I don’t think it makes sense. I want to keep the division alive,” he said.

“Not just me, but all the division works so hard for everybody to see that there’s so much excitement in the division. We have very good cardio, striking, grappling – you need to be good at all skills to be good in the division.”

UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis will again defend his title on Australian soil, with the South African putting his belt on the line in a rematch against Sean Strickland in Sydney in February.

The bout will headline UFC 312, with du Plessis taking on the man he won the belt off after submitting Israel Adesanya to defend the title in Perth in August. Strickland has also had success fighting in Australia, winning the title from Adesanya with a unanimous decision victory in Sydney in 2023.

The co-main event will see UFC strawweight champion Zhang Weili take on undefeated star Tatiana Suarez.

The two bouts are the latest to be announced for the card, with Australians Jimmy Crute, Stewart Nicoll and Quillan Salkilld all confirmed on the card as well.

Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.