Alexandre Pantoja is still the top flyweight fighter in the world.
The incumbent UFC Flyweight Champion stopped promotional newcomer Kai Asakura from grabbing his title on Saturday night, putting the Japanese contender to sleep in the second round with a rear naked choke.
The win for Pantoja – his third within a year’s time – closed out UFC 310 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA this weekend.
After a back-and-forth battle on the feet, Pantoja was able to close the show once finding an opening for his grappling.
Pantoja was able to hop on the back of Asakura early in the second round, backpacking the challenger briefly. The champ eventually was able to get the fight to the ground, maintaining his position on the back in the process.
The impressive grappling skills of Pantoja were on display once the fight hit the ground. The Brazilian flyweight searched for a rear naked choke from the back, won a hand-fight against Asakura in the process, and then put him out cold to end the bout.
The submission loss ended a fight which was hectic during the opening round. Asakura delivered on the expectation that he would be an explosive and flashy striker, coming at Pantoja with wild flying knees and punches during the first frame. However, a more calm and collected Pantoja out-scored Asakura through five minutes, piecing together impressive combinations while slowly inching forward.
Asakura, a stand-out fighter from Japanese MMA promotion RIZIN, was given the rare opportunity of a UFC title shot in his debut with the promotion this weekend. The booking was partly a testament to Pantoja’s dominance in the class, and also a sign that UFC recognizes the quality of performances Asakura put together in Asia.
Asakura earned a pair of bantamweight title reigns during his multi-year run in RIZIN, including rivalries with notable figures like Kyoji Horiguchi and Hiromasa Ougikubo. His most recent win marked the beginning of his brief second title run, stopping former Bellator champ Juan Archuleta with strikes in late 2023.
This weekend was Asakura’s first flyweight appearance since 2017, and was easily the biggest step up in competition he has ever taken.
Pantoja has now defended his flyweight title three times since defeating Brandon Moreno to initially become champ in 2023. He previously went the distance against Brandon Royval and Steve Erceg, winning on scorecards in both instances.
After extending his reign of dominance in the flyweight class, Pantoja didn’t eye a fight against any of the ranked talents lower in the standings. Instead, he looked toward a fighter who, while retired, is widely considered to be the best flyweight of all time.
“This is a message for you, Demetrious Johnson,” Pantoja said during his post-fight interview. “I’m the GOAT here. If you want to prove you’re the GOAT, come back.”
Johnson, a fighter who defended the UFC Flyweight Championship an astounding 11 times from 2012 to 2017, left the promotion in 2019 to fight for ONE Championship. Earlier this year, he announced his retirement from MMA.
Shavkat Rakhmonov holds onto top welterweight contender status in gritty five-rounder
Shavkat Rakhmonov maintained his claim of being the most qualified contender in the welterweight division, although he had to walk through a tough five-round performance against Ian Machado Garry to do so.
Rakhmonov prevailed in a close unanimous decision result in Saturday’s co-main event, going the distance for the first time in his career to end Machado Garry’s undefeated record.
The top Kazakhstan-based fighter snagged three of the fight’s rounds on scorecards and evaded a late worrying moment on the ground to walk away with the decision.
In the early rounds of the fight, Rakhmonov seemingly edged out Machado Garry in both the striking and grappling departments.
While the striking output from both was slow through the opening 10 minutes, it was Rakhmonov who landed the more pronounced shots. This included a right hand in the opening frame, which rocked back the Irish fighter’s head.
Along with the striking skills of Rakhmonov, it was his control in clinch positions that put him ahead early. Official UFC stats show that he controlled nearly half of the fight with clinch positions through two rounds, making it easy to score the rounds for him.
Rakhmonov needed to just take one more round and survive the rest of the fight to secure a victory. But, Machado Garry wasn’t going to make it easy for him.
Machado Garry had the better third round between the two, settling into his groove with striking for the first time in the fight. And while a pair of takedowns in the fourth from Rakhmonov landed him a crucial third round on scorecards, the Irish contender threatened to leave the judges out of the equation with his grappling.
The final round saw Rakhmonov defend himself from a worrying submission on the ground. Machado Garry reversed a takedown attempt to take the back of Rakhmonov, allowing him to start working toward a rear naked choke. The submission, while never fully under Rakhmonov’s chin, certainly had the contender in trouble.
Rakhmonov escaped the hold and lasted until the final horn, promising him a scorecard victory.
Saturday night was originally meant to be headlined by a welterweight title fight between incumbent champ Belal Muhammad and Rakhmonov. However, after Muhammad withdrew from the fight due to injury, Rakhmonov took the high-stakes gamble of meeting fellow high-ranked contender Machado Garry in a title eliminator fight.
Both 170-pound fighters entered this weekend with lengthy winning streaks. For Machado Garry, the loss ended a 15-fight run of wins, including past UFC victories over Bellator vet Michael “Venom” Page and Neil Magny.
Rakhmonov now has seven UFC victories to his name, with his six prior performances all emerging via finish.
After his win, Rakhmonov set his sights back on Muhammad, who joined him in the ring for a face-off. “We’re gonna meet soon,” Rakhmonov insisted.
“I’m excited for it, man,” Muhammad said. “I see the crowd booing. I’m going to turn those boos into cheers.”
Quick Results:
Main Card (PPV)
- Alexandre Pantoja def. Kai Asakura via Submission, Rear Naked Choke (RD 2, 2:05) (UFC Flyweight Championship)
- Shavkat Rakhmonov def. Ian Machado Garry via Decision, Unanimous
- Ciryl Gane def. Alexander Volkov via Decision, Split
- Bryce Mitchell def. Kron Gracie via TKO, Strikes (RD 3, 0:39)
- Choi Doo-ho def. Nate Landwehr via TKO, Strikes (RD 3, 3:21)
Preliminary Card (ESPN2 / ESPN+)
- Dominick Reyes def. Anthony Smith via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 4:46)
- Vicente Luque def. Themba Gorimbo via Submission, Anaconda Choke (RD 1, 0:52)
- Movsar Evloev def. Aljamain Sterling via Decision, Unanimous
- Bryan Battle def. Randy Brown via Decision, Split
Early Prelims (ESPN+ / UFC Fight Pass)
- Eryk Anders def. Chris Weidman via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 4:51)
- Joshua Van def. Cody Durden via Decision, Unanimous
- Michael Chiesa def. Max Griffin via Submission, Rear Naked Choke (RD 3, 1:56)
- Chase Hooper def. Clay Guida via Submission, Armbar (RD 1, 3:41)
- Kennedy Nzechukwu def. Lukasz Brzeski via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 4:51)
