The main event of UFC Vegas 74 featured top flyweight contenders Amir Albazi and Kai Kara-France.
The fight was a crucial matchup for both men, with Albazi seeing a big step up in competition and Kara-France looking to bounce back in a big way.
Albazi came into the fight with a 16-1 record (4-0 UFC) and has looked all the part of a top flyweight in his ascent up the rankings. Albazi has finished 3 of 4 UFC wins including a big submission over Francisco Figueiredo, brother of Deiveson Figueiredo. He looks to continue his hot UFC run and has intentions of calling for a title shot with a win.
Kara-France on the other hand is 24-10 (7-3 UFC) and is on the opposite side of things, coming off a 3rd round TKO loss to Brandon Moreno in a fight for the interim flyweight championship last July. Before the loss, he had been on an impressive 3-fight win streak that earned him the title shot. This win streak included a massive win over former bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt, as well as impressive wins over Askar Askarov and Rogerio Bontorin.
Controversial Decision
The main event saw Amir Albazi eke out a split decision win over Kai Kara-France. Many fans and media members scored the fight for Kara-France and it seemed the announcers believed he had done enough to win at the end of the 5 rounds. The first 3 rounds were tightly contested with both men feeling each other out and landing decent shots throughout. Albazi had Kara-France in trouble late in the 3rd round after locking in a deep rear naked choke attempt that nearly finished the fight. Kara-France reversed the position and landed some nice elbows that opened Albazi up and swung momentum in his favor. Kara-France was then able to control the latter portion of the fight with his slick boxing. Albazi found minimal success with the wrestling throughout, landing just one takedown but did rack up 6 minutes of control by the closing bell. Kara-France outstruck Albazi 99-43 in terms of significant strikes according to UFCstats.com.
Kara-France was visibly frustrated when the decision was read and expressed that frustration in his backstage interview, calling the decision “bulls***”. Albazi believed he had done enough to win the fight, but wasn’t sure what the judges thought.
Official Result: Amir Albazi def. Kai Kara-France via Split Decision (48-47, 47-48, 48-47)
UFC Fighters React
With so much controversy revolving around the scorecards for the main event, UFC fighters reacted to the result of the fight:
What did everyone think of the decision? Let me know in the comments below.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
