Kai Kamaka III Eyes Lasting Impact

Kai Kamaka III wants to build bridges from one generation to the next.

The 29-year-old Ultimate Fighting Championship and Bellator MMA veteran will pursue a second Professional Fighters League win in a little more than two months—and perhaps nail down a playoff berth at 145 pounds—when he toes the line against Pedro Carvalho in a PFL 6 featherweight prelim this Friday at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Personal stakes aside, Kamaka hopes to maximize the platform he has been afforded and motivate future torchbearers for Hawaiian MMA.

“I would like to inspire the next big up-and-comer from Hawaii to make a splash in the MMA scene,” he told Sherdog.com. “If I could inspire a young kid or a young teenager from Hawaii, from such a small place, who can see the ups and downs of a career, to keep pushing forward, I would love to be a small part in that. If I can inspire somebody from Hawaii, a young kid or even a young fighter coming up, that would be good for them to see. With adversity in your career, you can still keep going and maybe one day you can be on a chase for a million dollars, too.”

Kamaka enters his latest assignment in a three-way tie for third place in the PFL featherweight standings, along with Timur Khizriev and Adam Borics. Carvalho now stands between him and a potential postseason spot. The SBG Ireland rep steps up to the plate in the heels of back-to-back-to-back losses. Carvalho, 29, last fought at PFL 3, where he succumbed to punches from Brendan Loughnane just 86 seconds into their April 19 encounter. Wins over Derek Campos, Sam Sicilia, Daniel Weichel and Mads Burnell anchor his resume.

“He’s a dangerous guy,” Kamaka said. “He’s coming off of a loss that was kind of prematurely stopped. He wants to prove himself, in general. You want to prove yourself. You want to win every fight. I feel like I present more skills. The way I feel like I get the job done is using my footwork and using the techniques that me and my coaches have been working on, not only for this fight but even for previous fights. We can pull from so many different techniques that we’ve worked on.

“I feel like he’s a well-rounded fighter,” he added. “He has a lot of skills. He can fight off his back. He can strike. I don’t know. I don’t want to give too much away, but there are things in there that I just feel like I’m better at. I’m a much cleaner fighter.”

Though he would benefit greatly from a quick finish, Kamaka has no plans to alter his approach. He has gone the distance in 15 of his 19 pro bouts.

“I feel like if I win my two fights, everything else will take care of itself, regardless of how,” Kamaka said. “I want to finish, for sure. I want four, five or six [points]. I just want to win the fight and finish the fight as fast as possible, of course, but you cannot predict those things. You just got to do your job. Somebody who’s chasing the finish is also putting themselves at more risk. There’s risk and reward. I, for sure, want to finish, but you also got to fight smart and be attentive for the whole duration of the fight.”