LAS VEGAS — Alexandre Pantoja efficiently defended his flyweight title Saturday night time with a technical submission of Kai Asakura, utilizing a rear bare choke to place his challenger to sleep on the 2:05 mark of the second spherical.
Pantoja (29-5) was making his third title protection since successful a cut up resolution over Brandon Moreno at UFC 290 on July 8, 2023.
Asakura (21-5) was making his UFC debut, however was no match for Pantoja, who closed a -275 favourite at BetMGM Sportsbook.
Pantoja’s far superior abilities on the mat outweighed Asakura’s hard-hitting status. After a short scramble to higher place himself, Pantoja obtained Asakura’s again, put him in a physique triangle, after which choked him out.
Initially scheduled to battle in the principle occasion till welterweight champion Belal Muhammad pulled out due to a bone an infection in his foot, No. 3 Shavkat Rakhmonov (19-0-0) defeated seventh-ranked substitute fighter Ian Machado Garry (15-1-0) by unanimous resolution within the co-main occasion. Rakhmonov, who closed as a -400 favorite, was taken to a choice for the primary time in his profession.
After a three-round heavyweight bout, No. 2 contender Ciryl Gane (13-2-0), who went off as a 4-to-1 favorite, earned a cut up resolution over No. 3 Alexander Volkov (38-11-0).
In a featherweight bout, No. 13 Bryce Mitchell (17-3-0) stopped Kron Gracie (5-3-0) 39 seconds into the third spherical after he adopted a strong physique slam with a thunderous forearm to the pinnacle. Mitchell closed a large -1000 favorite.
After the betting market drove the closing value all the way down to +115 on underdog Dooho Choi (16-4-1), he delivered with a stoppage at 3:21 of the third spherical after placing Nate Landwehr (18-6-0) in a crucifix, and referee Chris Tognoni stopped the scheduled three-round featherweight bout.
Two notable matches earlier within the night time included former champions bantamweight Aljamain Sterling and middleweight Chris Weidman.
Sterling (24-5-0) misplaced by resolution to Movsar Evloev (19-0-0), who has the longest energetic streak within the UFC featherweight division at eight.
Eryk Anders (18-8-0) topped Chris Weidman (16-9-0) by the use of TKO at 4:51 of the second spherical.
It was Pantoja’s third profitable title defence and the eighth rear-naked choke victory of his spectacular MMA profession.
Asakura, a two-time Rizin champion, was making his UFC debut and hoped to grow to be Japan’s first UFC champion.
However Pantoja was an excessive amount of for Asakura in his debut, dominating him on the bottom and utilizing his beautiful scrambling abilities to lock within the rear-naked choke and pressure the tap-out.
