Japan’s Kai Asakura had the opportunity of a lifetime at UFC 310 on Saturday: making his promotional debut and getting his first exposure in front of many North American fans, Asakura was both headlining the card and challenging flyweight champ Alexandre Pantoja for gold.
A win might just usher in a new wave of Japanese MMA, with names like Rei Tsuruya and Tatsuro Taira also on the rise. It would be no easy task against the established Brazilian champ Pantoja, however.
Straight away Pantoja bull rushed in and dropped Asakura with a left hand momentarily and than a takedown right after. Asakura got his barring back and quickly got to his feet. Asakura started to get to work with some hard outside leg kicks. Hr landed a nasty knee to the body that Pantoga just took. Pantoja responded with his hands right back. You can see the speed of Asakura early as he was covering a lot of space when he threw his hands. Not just the hands as Asakura was throwing some kicks as well. Pantoja was also inching back in with some kicks of his own. Pantoja did a good job throwing the kick following a punch. Asakura looked fine but Pantoja did outland him in strikes and had the significant moments.
In round two Pantoja had Asakura backing up with a strong straight jab. When he pressed Asakura against the cage he attempted to jump on the back. He didn’t get there initially but used the cage to adjust to take the back and ground the fight. Right away Pantoja locked in the RNC and put Asakura to sleep.
Alexandre Pantoja def. Kai Asakura by submission (RNC), round 2 (2:05)
