After nearly five years fighting in other promotions, Kai Kamaka is back in the UFC for a second run.
While Kamaka (17-7-1 MMA, 1-2-1 UFC) has always had it in his mind that he would return to the UFC, the call came unexpectedly for a short-notice fight at UFC Fight Night 272 against newcomer Dakota Hope.
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“Honestly, it just feels more like a relief,” Kamaka told MMA Junkie. “Everybody knows how hard I’ve been working at this, how hard I’ve been trying to rewrite the story that I had five years ago in the UFC, and that’s just been my main goal. We’re here again, and we get to go again Saturday, so cannot really complain. Just grateful – grateful for all the lessons learned along this journey, along the past five years, the past year since becoming a free agent. So, lots of feelings, but the one feeling I’m really comfortable with is knowing what this feels like.”
Kamaka’s first UFC run began in August 2020 at UFC 252, where he won a Fight of the Night decision over Tony Kelley. Unfortunately, that would be the only time he got his hand raised, as he lost the next two fights, and then fought to a majority draw before his exit. He then fought in Bellator and PFL for his next eight fights, going 6-2. Kamaka’s most recent fight was a second-round finish of Joshua Weems under the Tuff-N-Uff banner last April.
Things have come full circle, as he feels this is now a chance to make things right in the UFC as a more experienced fighter who has a better handle on things inside and out of the cage.
“I’ll tell you what, in five years, I experienced a lot, and almost everything you could have in this game, and I think that’s prepared me for this second time around,” Kamaka said. “Guys might only remember me from that first stint, which I walked in there at like 7-2, you know? Just walking in there now with maybe almost triple the amount of fights – and high-level fights. I fought some of the best that other promotions had to offer, because I tried to stay grounded in where my feet was at and try not to make up for the time that I did in the UFC.
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“I rushed that first stint in the UFC, so when I got to Bellator, I tried to make sure, ‘Hey, I’m not going to rush it.’ I still faced challenges, and then I moved on to the PFL. I tried to face the toughest challenges I had there, and then there was a weird time in the business where everybody was trying to figure out with the whole Bellator buyout and whatnot, their transition. With things being so unsure, there’s one thing that is sure: the UFC is everybody’s dream, and their business model has kept up to where they’re still hanging around.”
Although Kamaka’s return to the UFC is on just a few days’ notice and he doesn’t know much about his opponent, he’s confident in his abilities to get the job done to kick off this second run. He knows Hope (11-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) will be hungry to make a name for himself in his debut spot, but Kamaka will lean on his experience to help carry him to victory.
“Honestly, I think the swagger comes from just a confidence in my skill now to where, OK, I understand what I’m doing,” Kamaka said. “So, now I’m just more confident in the way I’m actually moving or carrying myself in the ring, in the cage, to where it is more confidence because I’m just more confident in the way I’m going about this. I’m actually fighting. So, I want to show the new level that I’m at for sure, but I’m not trying to overdo it by any means.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Kai Kamaka enters second UFC stint with elevated confidence, knowledge
