UFC 253: Brandon Royval vs. Kai Kara-France - Pick, Odds, and Prediction
2020-09-26 23:15:00 EDT
Kai Kara-France and Brandon Royval fight Saturday night during UFC 253 at the Flash Forum on PPV.
Kai Kara-France enters this fight with a 21-8 record and has won 43 percent of his fights by submission. Kara-France has won five of his last six fights and he’s coming off a February win over Tyson Nam. Kara-France is averaging 5.27 significant strikes per minute with an accuracy percentage of 38 percent. Kara-France is averaging 0.60 takedowns with an accuracy percentage of 25 percent. Kara-France is coming off a decision win at UFC Fight Night 168 where he landed 78 total strikes and defended four takedowns. Kara-France is now 4-1 under the UFC banner and has lost just twice in the last four years overall. Kara-France comes from a kickboxing background, has a blue belt in BJJ and has nine knockout victories on his resume. Kara-France has pop in both hands, obviously mixes in his legs well, and while he’s not the most accurate striker in the world, his pace makes up for it. Kara-France also has good cardio that’s helped him win nine of his 13 career decisions. This will be Kara-France’s first career fight in Abu Dhabi.
Brandon Royval enters this fight with a 11-4 record and has won 64 percent of his fights by submission. Royval has won six of his last seven fights and he’s coming off a May win over Tim Elliott. Royval is averaging 1.93 significant strikes per minute with an accuracy percentage of 48 percent. Royval is averaging 1.81 takedowns with an accuracy percentage of 100 percent. Royval won his UFC debut in a second round submission at UFC on ESPN 9, and he’s now won there straight fights, and all of those victories have been decided by submission. Royval is a terrific grappler who is comfortable fighting off his back and has a wide variety of submission attempts in his tool box. Royval can be sloppy defensively at times on his feet, but he does mix in leg kicks well and has fast hands. Royval does have three knockout wins on his resume, but he’s most comfortable on the ground or against the cage.
Royval in the underdog role is intriguing because of how polished his grappling is and his ability to submit guys, but he still needs to prove himself against better competition before we completely jump on board. Kara-France has been on a tear these last couple of years, and he’s the more balanced fighter in this spot who would have a clear edge on the feet.
Look for Kara-France to keep the hype train rolling.
