Kai Asakura | Fight for all of Japan

Although next Saturday’s championship main event marks Asakura’s first foray into the UFC Octagon, anyone who has watched his career before signing with the MMA standout knows that the 31-year-old contender is one of the absolute best fighters in the world.

While he made his professional debut in 2012, about a month before his 21st birthday, Asakura has been fighting consistently since 2015, posting an 8-1 mark, including a win over future UFC competitor Alatengheili, before signing with the Rizin Fighting Federation and the promotion debuted with the Japanese at the end of 2017.

Sign up for UFC FIGHT PASS today to watch FPI 9 on December 5th

After winning his debut by technical knockout, he defeated Manel Kape on the scorecards in his second appearance under the Rizin banner, followed by victories over future Road to UFC fan favorites Topnoi Kiwram and Jae-Hoon Moon before truly settling down proved to be a strong force on the international stage in the summer of 2019 with a 68-second knockout victory over Kyoji Horiguchi.

The American Top Team representative, who is the last Japanese fighter competing for UFC gold, had won a total of 13 straight fights, including each of his last three Octagon appearances. He signed with Rizin, won the company’s 2017 Bantamweight World Grand Prix, and then captured both the Rizin and Bellator bantamweight titles with corresponding victories over Darrion Caldwell.

“Every single person thought Horiguchi would win,” Asakura said with a smile when asked about the career-changing victory.

“The reason my fight with Horiguchi was put together is very similar to the reason my fight with Pantoja was put together: I was on a four-fight winning streak, Horiguchi had beaten all the top fighters in Rizin, and there was that There was no one left to fight him, so I was a new face brought in to fight the champion. Very similar to the circumstances we have for this fight.”