He might be stuck in MIQ but Kiwi MMA fighter Kai "Don't Blink" Kara-France is making the most of the downtime with his young family, given his next fight in the US is now just two months away.
1News can confirm Kara-France, currently ranked sixth in the UFC flyweight division, will take on second-ranked Russian Askar Askarov as part of UFC Fight Night: Blachowicz vs. Rakic at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio on March 27 NZT.
Kara-France told 1News from MIQ in Christchurch he told UFC president Dana White he wanted a title shot after dismantling former UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt last month with a first round TKO.
"I'm coming off the biggest win of my career, knocking out a former world champion on one of the biggest cards of 2021 and making a statement," Kara-France said. "I pretty much made people recognise and remember who I am.
"I told [White] after the fight I wanted a title fight against the winner of [current UFC flyweight champion] Brandon Moreno and [No.1 ranked] Deliveson Figueiredo.
"[White] didn't give me that... but the next best thing was the No.1 contender fight which was against Askarov."
Kara-France said he didn't let the additional step in his journey to becoming a UFC champion deter him though.
"You've got to take out the best and show the world why you deserve the next shot," he said.
"But I'm more than ready for these big fights and these big crowds."
"I've got all the confidence and the momentum"
While it's a short turnaround - Kara-France had nine months between his two first-round knockout wins last year in comparison - the 28-year-old said he plans to use the lack of downtime to his advantage.
Since beating Garbrandt, Kara-France took some time off in Hawaii to celebrate his win with friends and family but made sure he remained in shape while he did so.
That included training in the gym, eating right - besides Christmas Day - and even running a marathon.
"Even in MIQ, I'm keeping my weight down - I could make flyweight next week if I wanted to," he said.
"When I get out of MIQ, we'll be straight into camp."
While Kara-France has been active in recent months, Askarov hasn't fought since last March when he took down Joseph Benavidez with a unanimous decision win.
Coincidentally, it was the same card Kara-France knocked out Rogerio Bontorin before he moved on to Garbrandt and as such, he hopes to use the momentum he's gained in the last year to hand the Russian the first loss of his 14-0-1 career.
"There's no other flyweight doing what I'm doing - they can all just sit back and admire the work," he said. "I've got all the confidence and the momentum on my side."
Part of that is channelling the positive energy coming from home as well.
"[When I fought Garbrandt], I could feel my whole country supporting me so I just channelled that, used that as fuel, channelled my tupuna, my ancestors and I was just the body of all that when I stepped into the ring - I was fearless.
"It couldn't have gone any better. When I jumped up on that cage after I knocked him out, I could just feel everyone back at home celebrating.
"I'll be continuing that coming into this next fight."
Kara-France isn't underestimating Askarov's abilities though, knowing he will look to take the fight to the ground to use his wrestling skills.
"He's a great wrestler, he's a great fighter but he's got a lot of decisions and hasn't really got a lot of finishes.
"Obviously he's undefeated and his draw was against the current champion [Moreno in 2019] so we'll be doing our homework.
"It's not the first wrestler we've fought ... we'll be more than ready."
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