Kai Asakura breaks silence on immediate title shot against Alexandre Pantoja on UFC debut

Japanese MMA superstar Kai Asakura is about to receive a rare opportunity not granted to a lot of men: fighting for a UFC title in his promotional debut.

The former Rizin Fighting Federation bantamweight champion will debut at UFC 310 on Dec. 7 to challenge Alexandre Pantoja for the UFC flyweight throne.

Only a handful of fighters were given this opportunity in UFC history, which gives the impression of how good of a fighter Asakura is. While he isn't the first Japanese fighter to fight for a UFC title, Asakura aims to be the first to wear the belt.

It's unsurprising that a significant number of fans and pundits are writing Asakura off ahead of his UFC debut, as Pantoja is on a five-fight winning streak with two straight title defenses. Kai Asakura addressed his doubters in an interview with the UFC, saying:

“I’m gonna go in there and display what I can do, and I want them to have those same claims after the fight is over."

Regarding his signing to fight Pantoja for the title right away, the 31-year-old Japanese prodigy said:

“My goal is to become the UFC champion, so when I was offered the chance to fight Pantoja, it was the first step to get to my goal, so there was no reason to refuse the fight. On top of that, I believe in myself, I believe I can win this fight, so there was no reason to hesitate."

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Kai Asakura wants to bring back Japan's glory days in MMA

Back in the late 90's to the late 2000's, Japan was in the epicenter of mixed martial arts, with organizations like PRIDE Fighting Championships and Pancrase leading the charge.

Legends like Kazushi Sakuraba, Masakatsu Funaki, and Yuki Nakai are considered some of the greatest MMA fighters of all time.

Despite the greatness Japan has reached in mixed martial arts, however, the one thing that eluded their undeniably great pool of warriors was UFC gold. Ever since the UFC acquired PRIDE back in 2007, a few fighters from the 'Land of the Rising Sun' tried and failed to win the belt. Kai Asakura plans to change that.

He said:

“Until now, there have been many fighters in the UFC from Japan who have fought and tried to win a title, and none of them have been successful. I feel like there is an impression amongst fight fans that Japanese fighters aren’t that strong, so my goal is to go there and prove that the Japanese fighters are amongst the best fighters in the world."