Kai Asakura is headed to the UFC.
Japanese star Asakura (21-4) recaptured the Rizin bantamweight title this previous December towards Juan Archuleta, who missed weight for the battle and was ineligible to retain the title. Saturday at Rizin 47, promotion head Nobuyuki Sakakibara introduced Asakura has relinquished his title so he may signal with the UFC.
The UFC has not but made a proper announcement of the 30-year-old’s signing, however he’s anticipated to rapidly be a menace to the higher echelon of the UFC’s 135-pound weight class, which at present is dominated by Sean O’Malley.
Asakura has fought solely for Rizin for greater than six years. Earlier than that, he fought for Japanese organizations like Deep and Street FC.
Asakura first gained the Rizin bantamweight title in August 2020 when he knocked out Hiromasa Ougikubo. He misplaced the belt the identical yr in a rematch towards Kyoji Horiguchi. It took him three years, and a run of 5-1, to win the title again, however he gained’t defend it forward of his transfer to the UFC.
Asakura is considered one in all Japan’s finest fighters. He holds notable victories over Archuleta, Horiguchi, Manel Kape and Ulka Sasaki.
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