Despite his loss to Alexandre Pantoja, Kai Asakura remains confident that he’ll become UFC flyweight champion.
The former RIZIN bantamweight champion is fresh off his UFC debut earlier this month in Las Vegas. Back for the first time since a knockout win over Juan Archuleta in December, Kai Asakura faced Alexandre Pantoja. The Japanese star got a rare title shot in his promotional debut, given the champion’s dominance over the flyweight division.
While Kai Asakura landed some big shots on ‘The Cannibal’, he took them well. In round two, Alexandre Pantoja took down the former RIZIN star, quickly securing a submission win. Despite the defeat, many were impressed and offered praise of Asakura. UFC President Dana White was one of the many who spoke positively of the flyweight post-fight.
Since his loss to Alexandre Pantoja earlier this month, Kai Asakura has remained pretty quiet. However, the 31-year-old broke that silence earlier this week in a video recently uploaded to his YouTube channel. There, Asakura admitted that time is ticking when it comes to his presence in the sport.
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👀🏆 Kai Asakura wants to become a UFC champion within the next two years.
He plans to clear out the Flyweight division, defeating each fighter.
🥶🎥 @kai_1031_ ▫️ pic.twitter.com/WrnYDWG25x
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) December 19, 2024
Kai Asakura breaks silence following UFC 310 loss to Alexandre Pantoja
With that in mind, the flyweight contender doesn’t plan to waste any time. In the video uploaded to YouTube, Kai Asakura vowed to become UFC champion within the next two years. The Japanese star added that if he has to clean out the division to get another title shot, he will do exactly that.
“I’ll keep going until I make my dream come true.” Kai Asakura stated on his YouTube channel, discussing what’s next following his loss to Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 310. “I will definitely keep fighting, I have to crawl up from the bottom [of the rankings] and clear each one.”
He continued, “I’m sure I’ll end up becoming the champion. I don’t have long left in my fighting career. So I think I definitely have to become the champion in about two years.”
What do you make of these comments from Kai Asakura? Do you think he’ll become the UFC flyweight champion?
