LAS VEGAS – The UFC 310 primary occasion wasn’t only a thrilling flyweight battle. It additionally was a quite distinctive second, not less than in more moderen occasions for the promotion.
Flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja defended his title towards RIZIN import Kai Asakura with a second-round submission at T-Cellular Enviornment – and he impressed UFC CEO Dana White within the course of.
“There are two sides to this story,” White advised MMA Junkie and different reporters. “You’re taking a man like Asakura, who got here into the UFC your first time. We speak in regards to the jitters and all of the issues that occurred, your first time preventing in a cage, and so on., and so on. – and he got here in guns-ablazing, flying knee immediately. Then, Pantoja, how he put the stress again on him – who on this room didn’t wish to see three extra rounds of that? It might’ve been superb. It was an amazing battle and Pantoja went out and dominated. … He’s superior. He seemed unbelievable tonight.”
White wasn’t the one promoter that sat cage-side for the title battle between the Brazilian and Japanese stars. RIZIN president Nobuyuki Sakakibara additionally watched. The previous PRIDE show-runner met together with his former rival White earlier than and after the occasion.
Whereas it’s unclear what RIZIN’s involvement, if any, there was to Asakura’s signing with the UFC, White likes the concept of getting a very good relationship to collaborate and construct the market in related methods.
“We did it tonight,” White mentioned. “He had a very good efficiency. I might like to do it. Having these up-and-coming Japanese fighters, we had been simply speaking in my room. He’s saying now in Japan, all of those younger guys wish to be the primary one to win a world title within the UFC. That’s thrilling.
“There’s such a wealthy historical past of MMA in Japan. A number of the greatest days of my life had been our rivalry with PRIDE. It was a very enjoyable time in my life and in his too. We had been speaking about it, so the reply is sure to all that. I’d like to go do a Struggle Night time there, too.”
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