The origin of Kai
Asakura’s MMA career is quite fascinating.
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Asakura will challenge Alexandre
Pantoja for the flyweight strap in the main event at UFC 310
on Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The former
Rizin Fighting Federation champ will also be making his
UFC debut against “The Cannibal.”
Asakura recently revealed how a street fight against his elder
brother helped him realize his true MMA potential. Asakura’s elder
brother, Mikuru
Asakura, is a street fighter turned pro MMA fighter. On one
fateful day, Mikuru challenged his younger brother to a street
fight after he ran out of other opponents. Kai claims he was able
to dodge almost every strike from Mikuru, who was throwing with
serious intent. That’s when the future UFC title challenger
realized he could earn his bread and butter through fighting.
“The story of how I got into MMA is quite crazy,” Asakura said on
the UFC 310 Countdown show. “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.”
Mikuru is 1-2 since 2023 and coming off a first-round knockout loss
against Ren
Hiramoto under the Rizin banner this past July.
Meanwhile, Kai has finished 15 of his 21 career wins and carries a
two-fight winning streak into his UFC debut. Pantoja is unbeaten
since 2020 in six outings, which includes a title win and two
subsequent defenses.