Debutants getting a title shot on their first-ever UFC fight is as rare as they come. But Japanese sensation Kai Asakura has found himself in such a spot as he makes his debut in the main event of UFC 310. It goes without saying that other flyweight fighters are mad about the decision. Take Kai Kara-France for instance. He said, “They’ve got the wrong Kai.”

“After my fight, I was calling for the title shot, and I was thinking, ‘Sweet, I’ve got it,’ and then I heard they’re bringing in a guy from Japan and his name is Kai. Bro, he hasn’t even fought yet. I don’t think he earns it. You’ve got to at least show your worth or do something for guys who have been grinding for years in the UFC division, fighting the best guys,” he stated but this brings in a question: Why did Dana White and the UFC matchmakers give him such a privilege?

Kai Asakura’s exceptional MMA record and title victories

Interesting Fact: By a broad definition, Kai Asakura will be the 24th fighter to make his UFC debut with a championship fight. Some of the most recent fighters to do so were:

• Joe Soto – UFC bantamweight title (2014)
• Gilbert Melendez – UFC lightweight title (2013)
• Frank Trigg – UFC welterweight title (2003)
• Hayato Sakurai – UFC welterweight title (2002)

However, it is important to note that back when the UFC was extremely new, divisions didn’t have champions established or were in their infancy during 1997 and 2001. So it was reasonable for a fighter to make their debut with a title fight. Maurice Smith, Frank Shamrock, Igor Zinoviev, and Jeremy Horn are some fighters who made their debut for the title.

Given that the UFC is now dominating the whole MMA market, with the most fans compared to any other promotion in the world, what happens outside of it often slips away, and that’s the reason Kai Asakura isn’t as well-known. The 31-year-old was not only a star in his former promotion, the Rizin Fighting Federation, but also one of the biggest MMA stars in Japan.

Before his arrival in the UFC, Kai Asakura had dominated his opponents 21 times out of his 25 fights, racking up an astonishing 21-wins-and-4-losses record. Furthermore, he’s been the bantamweight champion in Rizin FF on two occasions, although he never had any successful title defense. But that’s not all. Asakura has also been the runner in Rizin’s Bantamweight Grand Prix 2021.

With an 84 percent winning rate, Kai Asakura has also proven to be a huge knockout artist because of his 21 wins, 13 have been via KO/TKO and three were through submissions. Hence, his record clearly shows why Dana White and the UFC have so much confidence in him.

But what did Dana White have to say about the fighter before his big debut?

“He is a bad boy”: Dana White on why Asakura doesn’t need to be tested!

The UFC CEO is absolutely putting his money on Kai Asakura to give fans an entertaining showcase of his skills and prowess in the Octagon. Just like we said, his record speaks for itself and the CEO doesn’t believe the 31-year-old has anything to prove to him because Asakura has already proven to be one of the best.

“We are talking about the Japanese kid. He is a bad boy, you know. He isn’t a guy that needs to come in and be tested or figure out if he is one of the best in the world. We are going to find out that night if he is the best in the world,” Dana White said a couple of months ago.

In fact, the UFC CEO claims that if Kai Asakura had joined the UFC a few years ago, he would have gotten a title back then as well.

“Timing plays a factor, but I think it wouldn’t have mattered when he came in. He was going to a title shot no matter who the champion was,” Dana White added.

With such heavy words of confidence for Kai Asakura, will these words weigh too much for him to win the UFC flyweight title against Alexandre Pantoja? That remains to be seen.

Give us your predictions in the comments down below.