Alexandre Pantoja’s Back Control Shut Down Kara-France’s

Alexandre Pantoja submitted Kai Kara-France at 1:55 of the third round at UFC 317 on June 28, 2025. The rear-naked choke at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas secured Pantoja’s fourth successful defense of the UFC flyweight championship.

The opening takedown set the pattern

Pantoja attacked with punches before bringing Kara-France down and moving to the back. He used a body triangle and delivered short strikes as the challenger worked to escape.

The champion also threatened an arm-triangle and advanced into mount. Kara-France defended the submissions, but spent much of the opening round trying to solve positional problems rather than establish his striking.

Another burst restored the grappling advantage

The second round began with standing exchanges before Pantoja accelerated into another takedown. Kara-France regained his feet, showing greater resistance to prolonged ground control during that stretch.

Pantoja remained ready to close the distance again. His ability to combine aggressive entries with positional advances continued limiting the challenger’s opportunities to build momentum.

The third-round back take completed the defense

Pantoja rushed forward behind strikes, completed another takedown and reached the back. This time he secured the rear-naked choke and forced the tap.

The victory followed title defenses against Brandon Royval, Steve Erceg and Kai Asakura. Kara-France had earned his opportunity after stopping Erceg at UFC 305, but could not prevent Pantoja from repeatedly bringing their championship contest into his strongest grappling positions.

Sources

• UFC: June 28 Las Vegas venue and official championship results
• Cageside Press: opening mount, second-round takedown and third-round finish
• UFC: championship defenses against Royval, Erceg and Asakura
• UFC: Erceg stoppage and Pantoja title challenge

Tags

UFC, MMA