Kai Kara-France vs. Alex Perez joins UFC 284 lineup in Perth
A high stakes flyweight matchup between Kai Kara-France and Alex Perez has joined the budding lineup for February’s UFC 284 in Australia.
Kara-France (24-10 MMA, 7-3 UFC) and Perez (23-7 MMA, 5-3 UFC) have agreed to meet on the Feb. 11 card, which takes place at RAC Arena in Perth and airs on pay-per-view.
MMA Junkie verified with multiple people close to the situation that agreements for the booking are in place. The people requested anonymity because the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.
Kara-France, No. 4 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie flyweight rankings, will attempt to rebound from an interim title fight loss to Brandon Moreno at UFC 277 in July. The defeat snapped the 29-year-old’s three-fight winning streak, which included victories over former UFC champ Cody Garbrandt and Askar Askarov.
No. 9-ranked Perez, meanwhile, will look to buck a two-fight losing skid. The 30-year-old former title challenger has only competed twice in the past two years, with defeats to champ Deiveson Figueiredo and fellow top contender Alexandre Pantoja.
The latest UFC 284 lineup now includes:
Islam Makhachev vs. Alexander Volkanovski – for lightweight title
Yair Rodriguez vs. Josh Emmett – for interim featherweight title
Paulo Costa vs. Robert Whittaker
Zhang Mingyang vs. Tyson Pedro
Jack Jenkins vs. Don Shainis
Parker Porter vs. Justin Tafa
Josh Culibao vs. Melsik Baghdasaryan
Jimmy Crute vs. Alonzo Menifield
Shannon Ross vs. Kleydson Rodrigues
Kai Kara-France vs. Alex Perez
