Five years after first stepping foot inside an Octagon, Kiwi Kai Kara-France will feature at the forefront of the marquee for the first time this weekend.
On Sunday (NZ time), 'Don't Blink' will square off with Amir Albazi in the main event of the UFC Fight Night at the Apex Centre in Las Vegas.
The Aucklander aims to get his title train back on track, after losing to champion Brandon Moreno in their interim flyweight championship showdown at Dallas last July, ending a head-turning three-fight win streak.
While a third-round TKO denied Kara-France having his hand raised, the result did little to diminish his star power. An action-packed opening two rounds saw the co-main event steal the show in Texas, enhancing his reputation as a fighter who's as game as they come and is always primed to produce fireworks.
Remarkably, Kara-France has banked post-fight bonuses in five of his 10 UFC bouts to date, which meant his elevation to a headline act was inevitable.
"The UFC put me as a headliner for a reason, because they know I go for knockouts, they know I bring exciting fights," Kara-France told Newshub.
"It's awesome to be the centre of a card and it just shows that what I'm doing is different. I am privileged and honored.
"It was a reminder this week signing the poster, when I was like 'this will look nice in my office after I get the knockout'."
Kara-France's prospective next victim is Iraqi upstart Albazi. Riding a four-fight win streak, Albazi comes into the bout with a mountain of momentum and an equal amount of hype.
A well-rounded combatant who favours the grappling aspect of the sport, Albazi, 29, has earned three spectacular finishes amid the sparkling start to his UFC career, which has seen him leap to No.7 in the official division rankings.
Despite Kara-France sporting a considerably more impressive CV of vanquished opponents, the bout has split predictions among both pundits and bookies. Albazi's elite grappling has widely been considered the ideal antidote to the stand-up prowess of the City Kickboxing product, a notion he's been vocal about himself in the build-up to the fight.
For a bona fide veteran of the division, such a narrative is nothing more than disposable deja vu for Kara-France, who's more than willing to rollout the welcome mat for a significant step-up in competition for Albazi, who's never fought a ranked opponent.
"I've fought these guys before," noted Kara-France. "I've neutralised their wrestling and I've been successful.
"This isn't something new to me, I've seen this look and I've heard this before. All these guys think they're going to come in and just maul me and get me on the ground, and do whatever they want.
""You can try - good luck. I've got to welcome these contenders, let them know that there's levels to this, and I'm here to snatch up all that hype, all that momentum you have, take it and make a run for my next title fight.
"I love when guys are confident. When I land that first right hand, that's when the confidence starts to go."
Sunday's contest will have far-reaching implications for the title picture at 125lb (57kg) and could essentially be interpreted as a No.1 contender bout.
At UFC 290 in July, Moreno will put his belt on the line against second-ranked Alexandre Pantoja. If the stars align correctly for Kara-France - which obviously includes overcoming Albazi - the champion may be available to defend his strap when the promotion returns to Sydney in September.
That card will likely feature a host of his City Kickboxing teammates, including Israel Adesanya, who's expected to take on the victor between Robert Whittaker and South African Dricus Du Plessis.
His chances of securing that elusive title shot would improve considerably if Pantoja - who he's yet to fight - were to wrestle the belt away from Moreno, when they throw down in 'Sin City' next month.
Considering the immediate threat at hand, the situation has far too many hypotheticals for Kara-France to earnestly consider, but it's clearly somewhere near the back of his mind.
"It's just one of those things that's out of my control. September is a long time away.
"I am pretty confident. If there's a few guys on the card from my gym, you always get a bit of FOMO that you're going to miss out, but you don't want to reserve your spots before you've actually fought and have a fight in front of you.
"It's one of these things where so many things need to fall into place. Go out there, put on a great fight, get a finish, get a highlight-round knockout, then you might just be slotting the next place for a title fight.
"I know if I put on a great performance, why not let me have the next shot. For now, I'm just focused on taking my time, being patient and just letting the work do the talking."
At times, the last 11 months have been a frustrating ride for Kara-France, who was forced to withdraw from his scheduled bout with Alex Perez at Perth's UFC 284 in February, due to a back injury.
Since returning to fulltime training that same month, he has steadily added to his toolkit under the watchful eye of head trainer Eugene Bareman.
For obvious reasons, the 12-week camp leading into this fight has included a healthy dose of grappling to help neutralise Albazi's most potent weapon. One of the regulars called in to the Eden Terrace gym to help with those preparations has been former Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion Craig Jones.
A black belt under world renowned Kiwi BJJ genius John Danaher, the Australian has put Kara-France through his paces, providing the ideal foil to replicate the kinds of threats he'll face this weekend.
After an agonisingly lengthy layoff, Kara-France, 30, is done with all the talking and ready to do the walking.
"It's been a long 12 weeks, and I'm more than ready to show my skills and what I've been working on, and represent New Zealand.
"I'm just going to go in there, be composed and show my experience. I'm excited, because I'm really ready to get back in there and remind everyone why I'm one of the best in the world.
"Let everyone know that I'm back - back like I never left - and I'm ready to make another run at this."
