“He was really trying to kill me with each strike.”
UFC 310 is just around the corner.
This weekend’s pay-per-view (PPV), held at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, will mark the debut fight for Japanese fighting sensation Kai Asakura. Stateside fans who don’t follow the international mixed martial arts (MMA) scene may be unfamiliar with Asakura, so the UFC 310 “Countdown” special spent a little extra time focusing on his rise to fighting fame.
Which started with a street fight against his own brother.
“My older brother was fighting in the street every day,” Asakura said. “He beat everyone and there was no one left to fight. So one day, my older brother called me out into the street in the middle of the night. Suddenly, he gave me some boxing gloves to wear.”
“He was really trying to kill me with each strike,” Asakura continued. “I was able to dodge everything. It was the first time I ever had a real fight. That’s when I realized I had serious potential as a fighter. That’s what got me started training MMA.”
See the entire “Countdown to UFC 310” video here.
Asakura, 31, has since put together a 21-4 record with 13 knockouts and three submissions. He enters UFC on the strength of back-to-back finishes over Yuki Motoya (Rizin 42) and Juan Archuleta (Rizin 45). Despite his success overseas, Asakura opened as the odds-on betting underdog for UFC 310, likely due to the success of current champion Alexandre Pantoja.
To see who else is fighting at UFC 310 click here.