Alexandre Pantoja defended his UFC flyweight title with a second-round submission against Kai Asakura at UFC 310. Photo / Getty Images
Alexandre Pantoja defended his UFC flyweight title with a second-round submission against Kai Asakura at UFC 310. Photo / Getty Images
Alexandre Pantoja has welcomed a challenge from Kiwi UFC flyweight contender Kai Kara-France, but says it’s not up to him who he defends his title against.
The Brazilian defended his 125lbs championship in impressive fashion at UFC 310 on Sunday, submitting Japanese rival Kai Asakura in the secondround of their clash in Las Vegas. Asakura joined the UFC after a decorated career in his home nation where he was the champion of top promotion RIZIN, getting a title shot immediately based on his body of work there.
The win was the third successful title defence for Pantoja, who has also beaten the two top-ranked fighters in the division – Brandon Moreno and Brandon Royval – twice each.
Kara-France is currently ranked at No 4 in the division, but with No 3 Amir Albazi losing his last fight and Kara-France having knocked former title challenger Steve Erceg out in the first round of his most recent assignment, the Kiwi would figure to be in the box seat for the next shot – despite his controversial split decision loss to Albazi in 2023.
Speaking to media following his win at UFC 310, Pantoja confirmed Kara-France was a name that was on his radar moving forward but ultimately the decision wasn’t his.
“Kai Kara-France is a huge fighter. That’s someone I want to fight, of course, but I’m not a matchmaker,” Pantoja said.
“Give me a name, give me a time, and I’ll fight whatever guy, all across the world. Give me Jon Jones – give me a little time and I could fight him. That’s what I want. I want to be the best flyweight and the UFC give me that opportunity; the UFC give me the opportunity to show the world how good I am.”
UFC president Dana White was also asked if Kara-France made the most sense as the next man up for the flyweight title, responding: “I don’t know, we’ll see.”
Pantoja and Kara-France have shared the cage before, with Pantoja claiming a decision win over his Kiwi counterpart during their time on the reality TV show The Ultimate Fighter in 2016. The two were actually teammates in the season, but were drawn against one another after both beating their first-round opponents in the elimination-style show.
Alexandre Pantoja and Kai Kara-France were teammates on Team Cejudo in season 24 of The Ultimate Fighter before being drawn against each other in the second round of the bracket. Photo / Getty Images
An exhibition fight officially, the result didn’t go on either man’s professional record and Kara-France has been vocal about wanting to be the next to challenge for Pantoja’s crown.
Pantoja, 34, hasn’t lost a fight since dropping a decision to Askar Askarov in 2020, now on a seven-fight winning streak with three of those wins by submission. Kara-France, 31, has won four of his last six – including a win over Askarov – with three of those wins by first-round knockout.
Pantoja, who called out retired former champion Demetrious Johnson after the win on Sunday, added to thoughts on what was next for him by noting he had no intention of moving up the challenge for the bantamweight title unless the UFC paid him to do so.
“I don’t think it makes sense. I want to keep the division alive,” he said.
“Not just me, but all the division works so hard for everybody to see that there’s so much excitement in the division. We have very good cardio, striking, grappling – you need to be good at all skills to be good in the division.”
UFC confirms headline fights for return Downunder in February
UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis will again defend his title on Australian soil, with the South African putting his belt on the line in a rematch against Sean Strickland in Sydney in February.
The bout will headline UFC 312, with du Plessis taking on the man he won the belt off after submitting Israel Adesanya to defend the title in Perth in August. Strickland has also had success fighting in Australia, winning the title from Adesanya with a unanimous decision victory in Sydney in 2023.
The co-main event will see UFC strawweight champion Zhang Weili take on undefeated star Tatiana Suarez.
The two bouts are the latest to be announced for the card, with Australians Jimmy Crute, Stewart Nicoll and Quillan Salkilld all confirmed on the card as well.
