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Alexandre Pantoja vs. Kai Asakura. Fight Prediction
The champion of the Ultimate Fighting Championship in the flyweight category Alexandre Pantoja will meet Kai Asakura. The fight will take place on December 8 as part of the UFC 310 tournament in Las Vegas at the multifunctional T-Mobile Arena, which is the home stadium of the NHL club Vegas Golden Knights and holds about 20 thousand spectators. The approximate start of the fight is 07:30 Moscow time. Will the Brazilian be able to defend his title in a fight with the Japanese and what bets to choose? - read our forecast
Command Analysis
Alexandre Pantoja
BrazilCurrent form
Alexandre Pantoja is ranked 11th in the UFC pound-for-pound rankings. He won his title in July 2023 after defeating Brandon Moreno (split decision) from Mexico. Five months later, The Cannibal defeated American Brandon Royval (unanimous) in his first defense, and in his last fight, he defeated Australian Steve Erceg (unanimous).
Pantoja, 34, has 30 wins (eight by knockout, 11 by decision, 11 by submission) and six losses. The Latin American has been competing in MMA since 2007. Alex has a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
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Pantoja has been thinking about a “dream fight” with the retired MMA legend, admitting that if he could pick one opponent, it would be Demetrious Johnson. “Demetrius was my dream fight. If I could choose who to fight, it would be him,” Pantoja said. “These are different times. I know he’s not too old and can compete with the highest level fighters. Fighting me would be a great opportunity for him to test himself against the best fighters in the flyweight division.” Johnson holds the UFC record for most consecutive title defenses with 11. In 2018, he was traded from the UFC to ONE Championship for Ben Askren, where he won the bantamweight title. After a surprise loss to Adriano Moraes in 2021, Johnson got revenge twice before retiring this year as one of the most decorated fighters of all time.
Interesting trends for betting
Pantoja takedown success rate is 48 percent.
Kai Asakura
JapanCurrent form
Kai Asakura tried his hand at Rizin Fighting Federation, where he was the bantamweight champion. He has been a professional MMA fighter since 2012, and has also competed in Road Fighting Championship, Fighting Network Rings, and DEEP tournaments. According to Fight Matrix, the fighter from the Land of the Rising Sun is ranked 25th in the world flyweight rankings. The Japanese fighter will make his debut in Dana White league.
In his last fight in December 2023, as part of the Japanese promotion Rizin, he defeated American Juan Archuleta (TKO, second round) and won the vacant championship belt. The 31-year-old Asakura has 20 wins (13 by knockout, five by decision, two by submission) and four losses.
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Asakura believes that the UFC management will not be upset if he wins the flyweight title against Pantoja. The Japanese fighter is sure that he was given a title shot in his debut in the promotion in order to make money. "Let be honest: It good business for the UFC if I win," Asakura said. "I'm here to make the division more exciting, to bring interest to it and to offer a lot of new fights for future shows.
Interesting trends for betting
Asakura knockout win rate is 62 percent.
Trends
Bet Asakura wins by knockout
Asakura has 13 knockout wins
4.55Tip and bets
Bookmakers' analysts consider Pantoja a clear favorite of the upcoming fight. In their opinion, Asakura will have very little chance of success. They can be understood. After all, the Japanese will have his debut fight in the strongest mixed martial arts championship on the planet and his first outside the Asian region. But you can argue with them. Kai, unlike his opponent, likes to finish fights early. A small mistake by the Brazilian - and the fight can go according to an unplanned scenario. It is worth choosing a bet that the fight will not go the full distance.
Our prediction is that the fight will not be complete at 1.66
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