UFC 305's Kai Kara-France opens up on time away healing from concussion

PERTH, Australia – Kai Kara-France returns after 14 months away due to neurological issues.

Kara-France (24-11 MMA, 7-4 UFC) says he feels great ahead of Saturday’s UFC 305 (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) co-main event vs. Steve Erceg (12-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC) at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia.

After losing a razor-thin decision to Amir Albazi in June 2023, Kara-France was scheduled to face Manel Kape three months later at UFC 293, but withdrew after suffering a concussion in training.

“Time away has definitely gave me a lot of clarity,” Kara-France said at Wednesday’s UFC 305 media day. “Taking six months off contact was probably the best thing I could do, listening to all the specialists, all the guys here to save you from yourself.

“I guess fighters and athletes are always going to be too tough for their own good and just want to push through. But sometimes it’s better to sit with it and get pulled back to give my best. I want to be looking at the next five years, not just the next year, and I just feel the best ever. It allowed me a lot of time to kind of balance all my other responsibilities.”

Kara-France discussed his healing process, which didn’t go according to plan at the start.

“Doing all these different balance tests and eye tests and with the neurologist, it felt like an exam,” Kara-France said. “I had a three-hour exam that I had to go through, like puzzles, memory tests, drawing tests, and it’s not to see how good you are at drawing, it’s to see how well you are at multitasking.

“At the start, my test wasn’t actually that good. I was getting like 50 percent for my age and education, and then four months later or five months later, I did the same test and I was testing at like 98 percent for my age and my education. It just goes to show I was always going to heal, I just had to give it time.”

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