UFC 310 went down this past weekend (Sat., Dec. 7, 2024) inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, serving as the promotion’s final pay-per-view (PPV) offering for the year. Several fighters were left feeling the post-fight blues, including Chris Weidman, who was knocked out by Eryk Anders on the undercard (see it here).
And Anthony Smith, who was “stopped” via second round technical knockout at the hands of Dominick Reyes (see it again here). And let’s not forget about Clay Guida, who was submitted by Chase Hooper in the first round of their Lightweight bout. By the way, all three of those fighters could be retiring from the sport if Dana White has his way (details here).
But, which fighter is suffering from the worst post-fight hangover, now a few days removed from the show?
Coming into the event, Asakura caught some serious heat because he was awarded a Flyweight title shot in his first fight inside the Octagon (even though Asakura was a former RIZIN Bantamweight champion). Nevertheless, Asakura was determined to show the reason(s) he got the nod.
Unfortunately for the Japanese-born fighter, he ran into a champion who wasn’t about to roll over and cough up his title to a UFC rookie.
Asakura came out swinging from the jump, including throwing his infamous jumping knees that have always been a big part of his arsenal overseas. But, Alexandre Pantoja also brought the heat, putting his foot on the gas pedal and never letting up. And once Pantoja took the fight to the ground in round two, it was a wrap. After Asakura defended the multiple rear-naked choke attempts well Pantoja eventually managed to sink it in, forcing the stoppage and retaining the title.
It’s an unfortunate defeat for Asakura, who may have been thrown into the deep waters too soon. Granted, he had plenty of championship experience, but he was coming into a new promotion, cage and a different rule set. And he was doing it against one of the best in the game.
But, no excuses for Asakura, and credit has to be given to Pantoja because he was on top of his game and put on one of the best performances of his career. It was good enough to give him the confidence to call out one of the best 125-pound pound fighters ever in Demetrious Johnson, though “Mighty Mouse” wasn’t having it.
Asakura, meanwhile, offered up a response on social media.
“Thank you so much for all your support,” he said. “I’m sorry I couldn’t repay you with results.
“He was a great champion and I was still weak,” he concluded.” I didn’t reach it this time, but I’ll definitely climb up and become the champion. I’ve always done that, and I’ll keep doing it until I achieve it. I’ll come back stronger.”
As far as what could be next for Asakura, perhaps a fight against Amir Albazi is in order. Albazi recently had his six-fight win streak snapped by former division champion, Brandon Moreno, just last month, ending his run toward a title shot.
Albazi — ranked No. 3 at 125 pounds — would be yet another tough challenge for Asakura, who is quickly going to find out that competition under UFC’s banner is on another level than what he has been used to … regardless of where they stand in the Top 15.
For complete UFC 310 results, coverage and highlights click HERE.