Kai Asakura is set to compete in the biggest fight of his career so far. After all, the Japanese flyweight phenom is set to face division kingpin Alexandre Pantoja atop the UFC 310 PPV. What makes the fight special is the stakes involved as Asakura finds himself challenging for the gold in his debut, making him only the sixth UFC fighter to do so.

Speaking of fighting champions in their very first fight, Kai’s older brother, Mikuru Asakura has the UFC title contender beat on two counts. The elder Asakura used to be a mixed martial artist himself, having been a fixture of Rizin’s featherweight division. Mikuru has had one exhibition boxing match in his career, and that too against Floyd Mayweather, one of the greatest boxers and highest PPV-selling stars the sport has ever seen.

While this fight was an exhibition in which Mikuru wasn’t expected to do well, it seems the former Rizin star was extremely serious and went all out to prepare for the clash. Before the Mayweather clash, Mikuru went to the Philippines where he had a chat with Mayweather’s most illustrious opponent, Manny Pacquiao, to get some advice on how to beat ‘Money’.

In the end, Mayweather didn’t have too much trouble against the mixed martial artist. ‘Money’ stopped Mikuru in the second round in their Super Rizin 1 clash back in 2022. To be fair, the Japanese star was able to hold his own in the first round, but Mayweather’s brilliance was too much for him. Pacquiao was present ringside at the event to support Mikuru and even got a shout-out from Mayweather at the event. But right now, he would be hoping his brother has a much better UFC debut and can translate his power to a lower weight class.

Kai Asakura’s power is a big question going into UFC 310 clash

Kai Asakura’s biggest challenge coming into the Pantoja fight would be his weight. The Japanese phenom has been fighting at bantamweight for most of his career, and last made flyweight around seven years ago. In fact, Asakura is quite a big bantamweight, and many feel that cutting down to 125lbs is bound to affect him in some way. The biggest advantage Asakura seemingly has over the champ is his fearsome power. But whether fighting at a lower weight class would also lessen his power remains to be seen.

This could be dangerous against Alexandre Pantoja, who has remarkable endurance and an underrated ability to fight to the bitter end. After all, ‘The Cannibal’ almost lost to Steve Erceg and his remarkable boxing at their UFC 303 clash, but somehow made it through courtesy of a good fifth round.

Asakura, while quite a dynamic striker, isn’t as technically correct as Erceg, which is why the former Rizin star’s power is so crucial in the Pantoja clash. The Brazilian has a granite chin, and if Asakura can hurt the champ and make him respect his power, the debutante’s chances of winning will go up exponentially. Otherwise, he is in for a long night, which usually doesn’t end well for ‘The Cannibal’s opponents. What do you think about Kai Asakura’s brother fighting Floyd Mayweather?