Alexandre Pantoja is sweet. Possibly even nice, however he’s not particular.
Coming off a profitable albeit difficult protection towards Steve Erceg in Could, ‘The Cannibal’ will put his flyweight world title on the road when he welcomes two-time RIZIN champion Kai Asakura to the Octagon at UFC 310.
Asakura getting a title shot in his first profession battle beneath the UFC banner got here as fairly a shock to many battle followers, however anybody accustomed to Asakura’s work can definitely perceive why Dana White and Co. handed him the moment alternative.
Primarily competing in RIZIN, Asakura is 21-4 with 13 of his victories coming through KO/TKO, and held the promotion’s bantamweight belt on two separate events.
Some would say that the 31-year-old veteran is a particular form of athlete. Too unhealthy he can’t say the identical about Pantoja.
“Pantoja is nice at all the things, however he’s not particular at something; he doesn’t have a novel ability in a single space that makes him higher than anybody else,” Asakura advised E. Spencer Kyte of UFC.com. “What makes him higher than anybody else is his coronary heart — he’s bought nice coronary heart, and that’s what makes him an awesome champion, however I don’t see him representing any issues for me anyplace. He’s somebody I don’t suppose I’ll have any downside coping with.
“The benefit I maintain over Pantoja is that I’ve one-shot knockout energy, so it solely takes one shot. And I’m anticipating this battle to be over with one shot. I do know within the historical past of the UFC, there have been many well-known knockout scenes, however I’m hoping that at UFC 310, I can add my end to these spotlight reels.
Kai Asakura plans on beating Pantoja to turn into the uFC’s first Japanese World champion
Over the UFC’s 31+ years of existence, the promotion has hosted a slew of top-tier expertise from The Land of the Rising Solar — Kyoji Horiguchi, Yushin Okami, Takanora Gomi, Yoshihiro Akiyama, and Tatsuro Taira, to call a number of.
Nevertheless, none of them ever held UFC gold. In actual fact, no fighter from Japan has ever turn into a UFC champion within the fashionable period — one thing Asakura plans to treatment on December 7.
“Till now, there have been many fighters Within the UFC from Japan who’ve fought and tried to win a title, and none of them have been profitable,” Asakura mentioned. “I really feel like there may be an impression amongst battle followers that Japanese fighters aren’t that sturdy, so my objective is to go there and show that the Japanese fighters are amongst one of the best fighters on the earth.
“I wish to carry again MMA’s reputation in Japan, and supply a spot the place my buddies, teammates, and different fighters are capable of earn a residing in Japan. I really feel like somebody has to carry the MMA scene again to Japan, and I’m very proud that I’m a part of the Japanese era that may carry MMA reputation again to Japan.”
