"Japan s**ks at fighting" - Former UFC title challenger makes bold claim while breaking down Alexandre Pantoja vs. Kai Asakura

A former UFC title challenger recently talked about various points related to the upcoming UFC 310 main event between Alexandre Pantoja and Kai Asakura. Among several other inferences, the UFC Hall Of Famer also fired a scathing diss at the fighting capacity of Asakura's Japanese compatriots.

Asakura's case is an interesting one, as he is about to get a title shot in his UFC debut. But a plethora of Asakura's countrymen have graced the octagon before him. Kyoji Horiguchi, Yushin Okami, and Tatsuro Taira are a few noted names who have also fought under the UFC.

Okami and Horiguchi are former UFC title challengers while Taira currently holds a commendable pro-MMA record of 16-1 after going 6-1 in his seven UFC fights.

But former UFC light heavyweight title challenger Chael Sonnen discredited all of them, saying:

"[UFC 310 will be held in] the fight capital of the world, sold out. Dana White believes in you [Asakura] enough, [so] the boss puts you as the main event. That's a lot to put on a guy [like Asakura].

"And by the way, of all the things that we have learned since 1993 [the popularization of MMA]... is that how bad Japan su**s at fighting... We were always told that the secrets of martial arts come from Japan, [but] those guys are terrible. They have all been terrible."

Check out Chael Sonnen's words below (28:10):

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Kai Asakura got into MMA in a pretty unique way

Every MMA fighter has a story about what fueled them to get into this sport of blood and injuries. Some combatants like Israel Adesanya took up martial arts to defend themselves from bullies while others like Valentina Shevchenko were inspired into it by her parents.

But Kai Asakura's story is completely different from the others. The UFC 310 Countdown video on YouTube had the former Rizin fighter detailing the experience that made him consider stepping into MMA.

"The story of how I got into MMA is quite crazy. My older brother was fighting in the street every day. He beat everyone and there was no one left to fight. So one day, my older brother called me into the street in the middle of the night. Suddenly, he gave me some boxing gloves to wear.

"He was really trying to kill me with each strike. I was able to dodge everything. It was the first time I ever had a real fight. That's when I realized I had serious potential as a fighter."

Check out Kai Asakura's words below (6:46):