LAS VEGAS – He won’t rewrite his record, but Kai Kamaka III’s UFC Fight Night 290 hopes can at least taste the grape in his mouth.
At UFC 329 in July, Kamaka (18-8-1 MMA, 2-3-1 UFC) finished off Brit and Paddy Pimblett’s teammate Luke Lee. Kamaka, like some viewers, did not agree with referee Kerry Hatley’s stoppage.
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“As a fighter, I’m obviously very disappointed until I get out on my own,” Kamaka told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a press conference Wednesday at Meta APEX. “I live with that. I feel like I fell. I made all the progress to get a little more power from my feet and slowly get back in balance. But as a martial artist, I’m grateful for it. This game can move so fast. As a martial artist, if you’re not sharp, this happens. I only blame myself. I have done it for so long that it can become a kind of material.
Kamaka will have a chance to try to fill the holes in training camp for Saturday’s event, where he takes on veteran Andre Fili on a particularly seasoned card. While Kamaka was in harm’s way, Fili two intervened. Both have an added sense of urgency to get back on the train to win.
“I hate to sound like a broken record for things that you’d hear from a long-time fight, but I think if I just fight my fight, my type of fight, it’s in my favor,” Kamaka said. “I think we have opposite styles of fighting. We have similar attributes, similar ways of approaching the game, but our system is different. I think myself, I’ll be OK.”
In 2021, Kamaka left the UFC after a 1-2-1 stint. It took five years to make the journey. His situation is not what he supplies, and he hopes that the prospect of adversity will lead him to greater heights than before.
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“I’m a man. I’m a father. I’m a husband,” Kamaka said. “So everything that everyone in this world thinks is running through my head. At the same time, my wife said to me, “You’ve done this all your life. If you’re not going to do this, what are you going to do? You’re still working and trying to find a job anyway.” I did what I knew I was going to do anyway, show up at the gym, be in the gym, and whatever happens. Just have a good trip.”
This article first appeared on MMA Junkie: Kai Kamaka hopes UFC Vegas 122 will erase the bitterness of his last stoppage loss