Successfully defending his flyweight championship tonight for the third time, Brazilian finisher, Alexandre Pantoja turned in a hugely-impressive second round rear-naked choke win over Japanese title challenger, Kai Asakura in the main event of their UFC 310 headliner.
Pantoja, who had been sidelined since May of this year, most recently landed a controversial decision win over Steve Erceg in his native Brazil, having best Brandon Royval in a prior successful defense courtesy of a decision triumph.
And taking on former two-time Rizin FF bantamweight kingpin, Asakura tonight — Alexandre Pantoja would throw caution to the wind against the promotional newcomer in the opening round, who almost found a perfect flying knee effort at the Octagon fence.
Landing big on the former Rizin FF star midway through the round, however, Pantoja — having dropped Asakura briefly, would cause decent swelling on the Japan native’s face.
And leaping onto the back of Asakura early in the second round following a failed backpack attempt, Pantoja fought to lock up a rear-naked choke — with the challenger defending valiantly, before going unconscious with the Brazilian defending his title for the third time in the space of a year.
