Despite the hype Kai Asakura came into the UFC from RIZIN with, Alexandre Pantoja was able to pull off a flawless victory in the main event of UFC 310, winning by submission.
The action started hot and heavy, with the reigning flyweight champion absorbing a knee from Asakura and landing a hard right hand on the former RIZIN bantamweight titleholder. “The Cannibal” was able to score the takedown and got the better of the striking exchanges during the round, and he was on the front foot for most of that duration.
Pantoja got back to work in the second, managing to scramble and pin his Japanese opponent against the fence. He then scored a takedown and got a body lock in before looking for the rear-naked choke. The Brazilian locked it in and Asakura passed out trying to break out of the choke, giving the win and another successful defense to Pantoja.
Alexandre Pantoja Puts On Masterclass Performance In Successful Defense vs. UFC Debutant Kai Asakura
How can you not love Pantoja?
He's a maniac
Dude just jumps on anything he sees pic.twitter.com/nkdo71g0Sa— William – Open Note Grappling
(@OpenNoteGrapple) December 8, 2024
(@OpenNoteGrapple)
DUDE PANTOJA’S KID FUCKING CALLED IT pic.twitter.com/7Pa77DxeGF
— tommy
(@SuspendedTommy)
Pantoja captured the UFC flyweight championship with a decision win over Brandon Moreno at UFC 290 last year. He retained the title with decision wins over Brandon Royval and Steve Erceg at UFC 296 and UFC 301, respectively.
Asakura, meanwhile, originally won the RIZIN bantamweight championship with a knockout of Hiromasa Ougikubo at RIZIN 23 in August 2020. He dropped the title to Kyoji Horiguchi that December but regained it with a win over Juan Archuleta at RIZIN 45 last New Year’s Eve. That win marked Asakura’s final fight in RIZIN before jumping over to the UFC.
Though Asakura was more known as a bantamweight during his time in Japan, he did compete as a flyweight between 2015 and 2017.