Alexandre Pantoja successfully defends his flyweight belt with technical submission of Kai Asakura
LAS VEGAS– Alexandre Pantoja claimed to be one of the greatest flyweights in UFC history when he defended his title Saturday night with a technical submission of Japan’s Kai Asakura, using a rear-naked choke to put his challenger to sleep at 2 :05 of the second. round.
Pantoja (29-5) was making his third title defense since his split decision victory over Brandon Moreno at UFC 290 on July 8, 2023.
Asakura (21-5) was making his UFC debut, but was no match for Pantoja, who closed out a -275 favorite at BetMGM Sports Betting.
“This is UFC level, so high,” said Pantoja, 34, who has won his last seven fights, three of them via rear-naked choke. “You think a Japanese (fighter) is going to come here and take my belt? No!
“But, great kid, very tough warrior, everyone sees the highlights. But that doesn’t matter. When the Octagon is locked, it’s my city, it’s my city. I feel free when I fight here.
Pantoja’s far superior skills on the mat exceeded Asakura’s hard-hitting reputation. After a brief battle for better position, Pantoja picked up Asakura, put him in a body triangle, then choked him out.
“He’s great,” UFC president Dana White said of Pantoja. “He looked incredible tonight. He fought another guy who was a champion in another organization from Japan. In the UFC, the first time, you talk about nerves…the first time, he was fighting in a cage and he was coming in with guns blazing. It was a great fight and Pantoja came out and dominated.
“When you think about what that fight meant, if Kai had won tonight, do you know how big that would have been in Japan? Even with the performance he had tonight, we are now talking about possibly going to fight in Japan.
Originally scheduled to fight in the main event until welterweight champion Belal Muhammad withdrew due to a bone infection in his foot, No. 3 Shavkat Rakhmonov (19-0-0) defeated the fighter replacing, seventh, Ian Machado Garry (15-1-0) by unanimous decision in the co-main event. Rakhmonov, who closed as a -400 favorite, was brought into a decision for the first time in his career.
After a three-round heavyweight fight, No. 2 contender Ciryl Gane (13-2-0), who started as a 4-1 favorite, earned a split decision over No. 3 Alexander Volkov (38-11). -0). ).
In a featherweight bout, No. 13 Bryce Mitchell (17-3-0) stopped Kron Gracie (5-3-0) 39 seconds into the third round after following a powerful body shot with a front thundering arms to the head. Mitchell closed out a huge -1000 favorite.
After the betting market dropped the closing price to +115 against the underdog Dooho Choi (16-4-1), he held on with a stoppage at 3:21 of the third round after putting down Nate Landwehr ( 18-6-0) into a crucifix, and referee Chris Tognoni stopped the scheduled three-round featherweight bout.
Two notable matches earlier in the evening included former bantamweight champions Aljamain Sterling and middleweight champions Chris Weidman.
Sterling (24-5-0) lost by decision to Movsar Evloev (19-0-0), who has the longest active streak in the UFC featherweight division with eight.
Eryk Anders (18-8-0) dominated Weidman (16-9-0) by TKO at 4:51 of the second round.
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