"This is the most Japanese origin story ever" - UFC fighter blown away after whom Kai Asakura's first real fight against was comes to light

Japanese MMA superstar Kai Asakura will make his UFC debut on December 7 at UFC 310. He'll get an immediate title shot against UFC flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja - a rare opportunity not granted to just anybody.

Asakura getting an immediate title shot on his UFC debut definitely raised a lot of eyebrows. However, there are a lot who consider the Japanese star as one of the best fighters outside the UFC, building a violent reputation in promotions like Rizin, where he was a two-time bantamweight champion.

It seems fighting is in Kai Asakura's blood, as his first ever fight was against his older brother, former Rizin and DEEP featherweight Mikuru Asakura. Mikuru used to be a notorious streetfighter when he was young. When he ran out of men to beat, his younger brother Kai stepped up, giving birth to his MMA career.

ESPN MMA posted about Asakura's MMA origin story on Instagram:

Fans and fellow fighters are loving Asakura's anime-like fight origins, with UFC strawweight and self-proclaimed anime fan Angela Hill commenting:

"This is the most Japanese origin story ever"

Meanwhile, @_zenmartins said:

"People who were street fighters before becoming professionals are the most dangerous of all 😭"

Comments on the post. [Image credit: @espnmma on Instagram]

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Kai Asakura gets candid with his assessment of Alexandre Pantoja's skills

In an interview with the UFC ahead of his world title bout, Kai Asakura gave an honest assessment of UFC flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja. The Japanese superstar sees a difference in power between him and his opponent, which will be the difference-maker on fight night.

While he recognizes the fact that the Brazilian fighter is good in nearly every aspect of the game, he doesn't consider him great at any of it. Pantoja's well-rounded skillset does him good against remarkable fighters, but not against a one-shot KO artist like him.

Asakura said:

“I don’t see him [Pantoja] representing any problems for me anywhere. He’s someone I don’t think I’ll have any problem dealing with. The advantage I hold over Pantoja is that I have one-shot knockout power, so it only takes one shot. And I’m expecting this fight to be over with one shot. I know in the history of the UFC, there have been many famous knockout scenes, but I’m hoping that at UFC 310, I can add my finish to those highlight reels.”