Kai Kara-France Knocks Out Steve Erceg in Stunning 1st Round of UFC 305 Fight

Andrew PetersAugust 18, 2024

PERTH, AUSTRALIA - AUGUST 18: Kai Kara-France of New Zealand reacts after his knockout victory against Steve Erceg of Australia in a flyweight fight during the UFC 305 event at RAC Arena on August 18, 2024 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Kai Kara-France needed just one round to defeat Steve Erceg.

Kara-France beat Erceg in the first round at UFC 305 via knockout on Saturday night in a matter of minutes. The win gave Kara-France his 25th win and helped him bounce back after back-to-back losses.

SportsCenter @SportsCenter
KAI KARA-FRANCE KNOCKS OUT STEVE ERCEG IN THE FIRST ROUND 😱 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UFC305?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UFC305</a> <a href="https://t.co/L1D9QQgeo2">pic.twitter.com/L1D9QQgeo2</a>

UFC fans were quick to react the result as the fight ended in just a little over four minutes:

King Typo @BoxingBusch
Man, that was crazy. Erceg spent all that round sussing out Kara-France's patterns. Forgot that Kai was doing the same to him. Too many linear retreats

Aaron Bronsteter @aaronbronsteter
Kai Kara-France is BACK!<br><br>Incredible precision and power with a tremendous feel for the range.<br><br>He becomes the first to score a finish against Erceg.

Andreas Hale @AndreasHale
Whoa! Kai Kara France is BACK with a first round KO of Steve Erceg! It's time for Kai to get that title fight.

Damon Martin @DamonMartin
Wow! Kai Kara-France demolishes Steve Erceg in the first round <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UFC305?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UFC305</a>

Meni Mayer @MayerMeni
Holy smokes Kai Kara-France knocks out Steve Erceg in round 1!!

Kara-France came into the fight as the underdog but quickly proved that he could hang with Erceg. After just a few minutes of back and forth, Kara-France delivered two swift punches to get the win.

Saturday marked the 13th time Kara-France has recorded a first-round knockout and it was also his first win since his unanimous decision victory over Askar Askarov in 2022. He'll now look to use the momentum from the win as he prepares for his next fight.

Erceg, 29, made his UFC debut just over a year ago when he beat David Dvorak at UFC 289. From there, he picked up back-to-back wins against Alessandro Costa and Matt Schennell before losing to Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 301 in May.

While he couldn't pick up one of the biggest wins of his career against Kara-France, he's had a strong start to his UFC career and will look to bounce back soon.

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