Pantoja’s Fourth Defense Added Another Chapter to His
Alexandre Pantoja retained the UFC flyweight championship against Kai Kara-France at UFC 317 on June 28, 2025. A third-round rear-naked choke at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas supplied his fourth successful defense and continued a reign built against several different challengers.
The title run began with a close championship victory
Pantoja won the belt from Brandon Moreno by split decision at UFC 290 in July 2023. He then defended against Brandon Royval that December, winning a five-round unanimous decision.
A second decision defense followed against Steve Erceg at UFC 301 in May 2024. Pantoja next submitted Kai Asakura in the second round at UFC 310, bringing three successful defenses into the Kara-France meeting.
The challenger carried both history and momentum
Pantoja and Kara-France had previously met during The Ultimate Fighter’s 2016 tournament, with Pantoja advancing by decision. That exhibition did not count as a professional UFC bout.
Kara-France earned his later championship opportunity after stopping Erceg at UFC 305. Their UFC 317 meeting therefore combined an old competitive connection with a new official title challenge.
Back control completed the next defense
Pantoja repeatedly brought Kara-France to the canvas, established dominant positions and threatened submissions. Although the challenger regained standing exchanges during the second, Pantoja returned to his grappling in the third.
He secured the back and finished the choke at 1:55. The result added Kara-France to a championship-defense sequence already featuring Royval, Erceg and Asakura, extending Pantoja’s success across both full-distance contests and submission finishes.
Sources
- UFC: June 28 Las Vegas event and championship results
- UFC: title win and four championship-defense results
- UFC: 2016 exhibition and later championship opportunity
- UFC: Erceg stoppage preceding the title challenge
- UFC: positional control and third-round rear-naked choke
