RIZIN star Kai Asakura will make his UFC debut on December 7 when the promotion closes out its pay-per-view scheduled in Las Vegas.
As announced by CEO Dana White, Asakura will challenge reigning flyweight world champion Alexandre Pantoja in the UFC 310 co-main event, a bit of news that has some fans frustrated.
While it’s becoming more common for fighters to earn a title opportunity with just a few fights under their belt i.e. Alex Pereira and Jiri Prochazka, seeing a newcomer immediately step into the title picture and challenge an established champion while simultaneously skipping a line of top 10 contenders is unusual, even for UFC standards.
As a result, fans are lashing out about Asakura’s “unearned” opportunity, but that’s certainly nothing new for the two-time RIZIN titleholder.
“A lot of people say I can’t win a title match, but I’ve overcome similar adversity and I believe I can win, and I’ll prove it in the cage,” Asakura wrote in a translated post on X.
Brandon Royval Reacts to Kai Asakura’s Title Opportunity
One man who will be watching Pantoja vs. Asakura very closely is Brandon Royval. The one-time title challenger secured a big win over Tatsuro Taira in the UFC Vegas 98 headliner on Saturday, re-establishing himself as the division’s top-ranked contender.
In all likelihood, he’ll fight the winner of December’s flyweight title tilt.
Asked for his take on Asakura’s opportunity during the post-fight press conference, Royval said:
”I’ve been watching Kai Asakura for a while, I think he’s sick. I think there’s a lot of cool things, he’s yet to make flyweight. So I’ll be there and I’ll be ready just in case he doesn’t. That being said, I’ll give the man his roses, I think he brings a lot of excitement to the division but I think if Pantoja grapples him at all it’s gonna be over”
Asakura is 21-4 in his mixed martial arts career with 13 wins by way of knockout and three submissions. He is a two-time RIZIN bantamweight champion and was a 2021 Bantamweight World Grand Prix runner-up.