Dana White excited by Alexandre Pantoja, RIZIN relationship

LAS VEGAS – The UFC 310 main event wasn’t just an exciting flyweight bout. It was also a pretty unique moment, at least in recent memory for the promotion.

Flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja defended his title against RIZIN import Kai Asakura with a second-round submission at T-Mobile Arena – and impressed UFC CEO Dana White in the process.

“There are two sides to this story,” White told MMA Junkie and other reporters. “Take a guy like Asakura, who came into the UFC for the first time. We talk about the nerves and all the things that happened, your first time fighting in a cage, etc. etc. – and he immediately came with guns blazing and knees flying. Then, Pantoja, putting the pressure back on himself – who in this room didn’t want to see three more rounds of that? It would have been great. It was a great fight and Pantoja went out and dominated. …He’s great. He looked incredible tonight.”

White wasn’t the only promoter at the cage for the title fight between the Brazilian and Japanese stars. RIZIN President Nobuyuki Sakakibara also looked on. The former PRIDE showrunner met with his former rival White before and after the event.

While it’s unclear what involvement RIZIN had in Asakura’s signing with the UFC, White likes the idea of ​​a good relationship to work together and build the market in a similar way.

“We did it tonight,” White said. “He performed well. I’d love to. Since we had these aspiring Japanese fighters, we just talked in my room. He says now in Japan that all these young people want to be the first to win a world title in the UFC. This is exciting.

“There is such a rich MMA history in Japan. Some of the best days of my life were our rivalry with PRIDE. It was a really fun time in my life and in his too. We’ve talked about it, so the answer to everything is yes. I would also like to have a fight night there.”

For more information on the card, check out MMA Junkie’s UFC 310 event hub.