Kai Asakura took the entire world by surprise when his UFC debut was announced. But when the news broke that his debut fight was for the flyweight title, things got intense pretty quickly. The Japanese mixed martial artist has already won his countrymates’ hearts with his performance at RIZIN. Some of the credits of his success surely go to his coach and teammates, of course. After all, it’s the team that builds a sportsperson.

This has put quite a bit of mystery around his coach. The netizens have already begun digging up the dirt and asking about Asakura’s coach. As Asakura gets ready for his next MMA challenge, let’s take a deep dive into his training center and find out everything about his coach and teammates.

Who is Kai Asakura’s coach?

Kai Asakura trains under the guidance of Bill Bigelow, who once was the head wrestling coach of the Syndicate MMA gym, in Las Vegas. Bigelow is a wrestling junkie with 4 years of wrestling experience. He was the Nevada State Champion, Las Vegas Holiday Classics Champion, and qualified for the All-State Academic selection, and High School All-American. On top of that, Bigelow graduated from Faith Lutheran High School with an impressive 3.8 GPA. 

The Nevada-born coach was active during 2017-2018 and went 4-9 in his very first season at Oregon State. But his season was slashed because of an injury. He even went on to win his first bout in the Gill Coliseum with a decision. But how did Kai Asakura get someone like Bigelow as his coach?

Well, it was around the time when Merab Dvalishvili was preparing for his fight against Petr Yan when Bigelow first saw Asakura. It was a big moment for the gym and the coach was completely focused on training ‘The Machine’. During the training camp, he happened to witness a sparring session including Asakura and Dvalishvili. The Japanese fighter’s skills truly impressed Bigelow. He admitted, “That’s when I really started doing research on him, and that’s kind of where it left off, to be honest with you.”

Later on, before his fight against Yuki Motoya, Asakura visited the Syndicate MMA gym and Bigelow gave him some private sessions. Needless to say, Asakura won the bout, and knew right away that Bigelow’s coaching worked wonders. The coach continued, “And that’s when he gave me a call and asked me to come out to Japan.”

Talking about the Japanese star, Bigelow said, “When you watch him fight, you’re going to see a moment in his demeanor where it changes drastically. You’re going to see this smile on his face — and him looking to kill someone. He has this vicious, relentless competitor in him.” He even went on to merge Asakura together with legends like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. According to the coach, Asakura had the same obsession of becoming a champion and build a legacy for himself. But for that, he’d need to take the help of his teammates. Let’s see who the former RIZIN champ trains with.

Kai Asakura’s gym and teammates

Asakura trains at the Japan Top Team. Situated in Toshima, Tokyo, Japan, the JTT is the reason behind the massive success of the UFC debutant. Therein, he trains with his older brother, Mikuru Asakura. The brothers often got themselves involved in street fights, and that was how the Asakuras got to know about their fighting potential. And things did turn out to be the best-case scenario as both brothers have established themselves as prominent fighters in the land of the rising sun. 

Asakura also trains with Hiroya Kondo, Daigo Kuramoto, Hiroto Gomyo, Hyuma Yasui, and many others. The JTT trains fighters who compete in RIZIN, Deep 123 Impact, and now, the UFC. On top of that, Asakura has also trained with fighters from Syndicate MMA gym. We can definitely expect him to have come across Khalil Rountree Jr., Ode Osbourne, and Daniel Rodriguez as well. 

Coming to UFC 310, Asakura has promised to make things interesting for the UFC flyweight division. Going up against the flyweight champion, Alexandre Pantoja, the Japanese star would display a performance that the world has seldom witnessed. But would he actually defeat the Brazilian champ? Well, we must wait for the 7th of December to find out!

What do you think of the matchup between Asakura and Pantoja? Do you believe Bigelow made a significant mark on Asakura’s life? Drop down to the comments below and let us know what you think.