UFC boss Dana White has booked an almost unheard of world title fight for his final big pay-per-view event of the year.
MMA’s biggest promotion is considered the pinnacle of the sport around the world, and some fighters have battled for nearly a decade to earn a shot at the belt. But for flyweight Kai Asakura, he will walk straight into a meeting with champion Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 310 this December.
In the recent history of the UFC, this has almost never happened. And the few times it has, it came with large caveats regarding the belts and where there divisions were at the time.
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Dana White gives Kai Asakura UFC title fight on his debut
In an announcement video yesterday, UFC CEO Dana White confirmed a number of big fights for the promotion’s final pay-per-view of the year. And one that stuck out was the co-main event flyweight title fight between Pantoja and Asakura.
The champion has already beaten, some on multiple occasions, all of his top five contenders bar Amir Albazi. But he is booked to face former champion Brandon Moreno, while Brandon Royval had yet to fight when the show was booked.
Instead, White has made the unprecedented move to offer a debut title shot to former RIZIN champion Asakura, who just signed with the promotion. The Japanese star leaves the promotion as bantamweight champion, and now has the chance to win UFC gold within minutes of coming in the door.
UFC have previously only given three fighters debut title bouts
In the modern age of the UFC, only Gilbert Melendez, Liz Carmouche and Ronda Rousey have been afforded the honour of fighting for gold in their debuts. Michael Chandler more recently weighed in as the backup opponent for Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Justin Gaethje, but ultimately wasn’t needed.
For Rousey and Carmouche, there had never been female fighters in the promotion before, so somebody had to fight for the title in the promotion’s first effort. Their historic bout at UFC 157 ended up being a massive part of Rousey’s star run.
As for Melendez, he arrived as Strikeforce lightweight champion during a time when there was not a complete monopoly at the top of MMA. There were also limited contenders for Benson Henderson at the time, and he ultimately came up short.
Brandon Royval has demanded to be backup for UFC 310 co-main event
Unfortunately, the announcement has meant that Brandon Royval’s bonus-winning performance last night against number five-ranked Tatsuro Taira won’t earn him a shot at gold. He made his case for the title shot, and is now keen to confirm his spot as the backup for UFC 310.
“Hey, if you need a backup for the Edmonton fight, I’ll fight either of those mother******,” he said after the fight, which earned him his fifth bonus in ten UFC bouts. “I’ve beaten everybody in the f*****top 5, I have a win over everybody in the top 5. I get that f***** title shot next.
“I get that title shot next; I’ll be the backup. Kai Asakura, I’m going to Japan and I’m taking that s***, if Pantoja wins it then I’m going to Brazil to take that s*** – title shot next, end of discussion.”
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