Kai Asakura Reveals How Street Fight with Brother Got Him Into MMA

The origin of Kai Asakura’s MMA career is quite fascinating.

Asakura will challenge Alexandre Pantoja for the flyweight strap in the main event at UFC 310 on Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The former Rizin Fighting Federation champ will also be making his UFC debut against “The Cannibal.”

Asakura recently revealed how a street fight against his elder brother helped him realize his true MMA potential. Asakura’s elder brother, Mikuru Asakura, is a street fighter turned pro MMA fighter. On one fateful day, Mikuru challenged his younger brother to a street fight after he ran out of other opponents. Kai claims he was able to dodge almost every strike from Mikuru, who was throwing with serious intent. That’s when the future UFC title challenger realized he could earn his bread and butter through fighting.

“The story of how I got into MMA is quite crazy,” Asakura said on the UFC 310 Countdown show. “My older brother was fighting in the street every day. He beat everyone and there was no one left to fight. So one day, my older brother called me into the street in the middle of the night. Suddenly, he gave me some boxing gloves to wear. He was really trying to kill me with each strike. I was able to dodge everything. It was the first time I ever had a real fight. That's when I realized I had serious potential as a fighter.”

😳🇯🇵 Kai Asakura's first ever real fight was... against his older brother, who was a street fighter and had run out of opponents.

It made Kai realize his potential, leading him to pursue MMA career.
🎥 @ufc pic.twitter.com/hgQ2esukcM

— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) December 1, 2024

Mikuru is 1-2 since 2023 and coming off a first-round knockout loss against Ren Hiramoto under the Rizin banner this past July.

Meanwhile, Kai has finished 15 of his 21 career wins and carries a two-fight winning streak into his UFC debut. Pantoja is unbeaten since 2020 in six outings, which includes a title win and two subsequent defenses.