Kai Asakura announces big bantamweight move in the UFC

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Kai Asakura will be making the move up to 135 pounds after consecutive setbacks in the octagon at flyweight. The former UFC flyweight title challenger will be leaving 125 pounds behind for now and this was something which Asakura mentioned on his personal YouTube channel. Touching upon his future plans as a contracted competitor with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Asakura said [via Yahoo Sports],

“I’m going to move up a weight class, so I’m going to have to prepare properly and get my body in shape again. It might be next year or so, but I’ll definitely win my next fight. It’s not because someone told me to, but because I’ve always done things based on my own instincts. I want to win.”

Kai Asakura and his path in the MMA world so far

Kai Asakura will be making a switch in a sense but he will be returning to a weight category that he is more than familiar with. Asakura rose to prominence in Rizin as a 2021 RFF bantamweight grand prix finalist while also cementing himself as the Rizin Fighting Federation bantamweight champion twice.

His first foray into the UFC marked Asakura’s return to flyweight for the first time since the first quarter of 2017. Asakura famously had the unique opportunity to receive a title shot in his debut effort with the company. Kai Asakura competed against Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 310 last December. Pantoja would secure a rear naked choke in the first half of the second round to retain his belt and set back Asakura at 0-1 in the UFC.

Asakura would also fall short in his sophomore effort with the UFC and lost to a fellow former UFC flyweight title challenger. The Japanese combatant was again submitted in the second round, this time in the waning seconds of the final minute as he tapped to a guillotine choke against Tim Elliott at UFC 319 in August.

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