Chael Sonnen shares surprising prediction for “bum” Kai Asakura’s title fight against Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 310

Kai Asakura will make his promotional debut against Alexandre Pantoja in the main event of UFC 310 on Dec. 7. The pair will go to war for the flyweight title in what could be Pantoja's third successful title defense in 12 months.

The title challenger previously competed at bantamweight while signed with Rizin Fighting Federation in Japan. Having competed exclusively in Japan since 2017, UFC fans are largely unfamiliar with the 31-year-old's skillset.

However, former UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen believes the promotional debutant will be in for a wake-up call against the 125-pound UFC champion. 'The American Gangster' was recently interviewed by Helen Yee about the UFC 310 main event.

Sonnen was asked if he thought Asakura had a chance of beating Pantoja, and said this:

"No, oh no! He's got no chance. He's a bum. I mean, he's not a bum, but.. Okay, nobody knows who has the best fighters. Nobody actually knows, but whoever has the best production, the fans then believe have the best fighters. So the UFC has the best production, okay, you're the best. Nobody actually knows who the best is."

He continued:

"There's only one way to find out, which is to put them in a straight-line bracket and do a tournament. That's not what we do in this sport. If you're Asakura, it doesn't matter how good you are. You look up to the UFC."

Watch Sonnen discuss Alexandre Pantoja vs. Kai Asakura below (5:00):

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Kai Asakura aiming to put Alexandre Pantoja out cold at UFC 310

Kai Asakura has competed largely at bantamweight during his MMA career, with his most recent flyweight fight coming in 2017. Ahead of his return to 125 pounds, in arguably the most important fight of his career thus far, there have been concerns about the title challenger making the 125-pound weight limit.

But Asakura dismissed those concerns, and the former Rizin champion has now shared his plans against the Brazilian.

With the Japanese star holding 13 knockout wins out of his 21 total MMA wins, he has bonafide KO power at flyweight. Something he plans on displaying in full against Pantoja, as he shared the following prediction for his UFC debut during a recent interview with MMA Junkie:

"I'm a little bit different than the other fighters in the flyweight division. I have the ability to capitalize on one of [Pantoja's] mistakes and put him to sleep. So that's what I'm aiming for. That's what makes my challenge for this type of fight different than anybody else."

Check out Kai Asakura's comments below (5:55):