Alexandre Pantoja choked Kai Asakura unconscious in the co-main event of UFC 310 in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
The UFC’s flyweight division had been completely cleaned out, to the point that Pantoja needed to look elsewhere for a legitimate challenger. Enter RIZIN star Asakura, who became just the third fighter to compete for an established title in the promotion on their debut.
Asakura was aiming to become the first Japanese champion in UFC history, while Pantoja was aiming to forge a legacy with regular defences of his belt. And he entered to the infamous ‘Many Men’ by 50 Cent, with major confidence.
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Alexandre Pantoja vs Kai Asakura UFC 310 RESULT
The pair flew out of the traps early, with Alexandre Pantoja hurting his rival early with big shots and causing ruptures in the arena. He landed a big left hand that almost dropped Kai Asakura as they headed into the clinch.
After being visibly rocked early, Asakura did recover well as they headed to the ground, and managed to get back to the feet as he stopped his rival from using his jiu-jitsu black belt to full effect. He even landed a big knee on the feet, but was constantly getting caught by the champion.
The first round was a very good one for the champion, who continued to impress as the minutes ticked on, scoring with big shots. And in the second, Pantoja managed to get back into a good position, landing the takedown.
From there, he got into position for a rear naked choke and landed his third world title defence at flyweight. He may now be on the way to closing the gap with the legendary Demetrious Johnson.
Kai Asakura gained 11lb in one hour after weighing in for UFC 310 main event
It was the first time in seven years that Asakura was making the flyweight limit of 125lb when he tipped the scales on Friday for this fight. He had previously been bantamweight champion in RIZIN, where he was weighing in at 135lb.
But taking to Instagram after making weight yesterday, he showed off almost immediate gains once he had rehydrated. He put on 11lb, or almost one stone, inside just 60 minutes after tipping the scales, and was likely even bigger in the octagon on Saturday night.
His greatest success has come at bantamweight, but the Japanese star likely knew that he wouldn’t be able to get an immediate shot at gold in the much more competitive 135lb division. So he went about meticulously dieting and cutting in order to make the limit.
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