Consider it statement made for Kai Kara-France in his return at UFC 305.

Following a long 14-month layoff, Kara-France immediately put himself back into title contention with a stunning first-round knockout over Steve Erceg in the co-main event. It was likely one of the most satisfying wins over Kara-France’s entire career after he uncorked a huge overhand left that sat Erceg down and spelled the beginning of the end of the fight.

While Erceg was able to survive the initial knockdown and get back to his feet, Kara-France continued to attack and he clubbed him with a nasty right hook that put the recent flyweight title challenger back on the canvas. That was enough for the referee to stop the fight before Erceg endured anymore damage.

The end came at 4:04 in the opening round.

“How’d you guys like that, Perth?” Kara-France said to the raucous crowd. “Hats off to Steve, he’s a gentleman. He’s’ the man.

“Just to get back here, a year ago I had to take time away. With the best team in the world City Kickboxing, this is what we love. This is what we do best. We knew Steve’s going to be crafty. So we had to set him up for the second phase.”

A perennial contender at flyweight, Kara-France suffered through back-to-back losses before taking over a year off before finally making his return to the octagon in friendly territory in Australia. While he had to deal with some early adversity from Erceg’s reach and length, Kara-France stayed patient until he could find an opening for his biggest punches.

That came late in the first round when Kara-France stepped into his combination with the left hand that put Erceg down. Once Kara-France smelled blood in the water, he didn’t let up until he dropped Erceg again for the finish.

It was exactly the emphatic knockout that Kara-France needed and the kind of win that puts him back in the conversation near the top of the 125-pound division. While it seems unlikely he’ll get a title shot off this win, reigning champion Alexandre Pantoja has no opponent right now so anything is possible.

“This is the statement I was talking about,” Kara-France said about his performance. “I want my actions to be my loudest voice.”