Kai Asakura and the complex history of UFC debut title shots

The answer to the question, “How many people have fought for a UFC title in their promotional debut?” is not as straightforward as it may seem.

Former RIZIN FF champion Kai Asakura has created intrigue into the topic as he readies for a chance to challenge Alexandre Pantoja for the UFC flyweight title in his first octagon appearance Saturday at UFC 310, which takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN2, Hulu, ESPN+).

By the broadest of definitions, Asakura will be the 24th fighter to make a UFC debut in a championship setting. However, not all title-fight debuts are structured under the same degree of integrity.

Asakura is fighting an established champ with multiple defenses already under his belt in a division that is legitimately filled out on the UFC roster, and that is a rare circumstance.

To start, it should be noted a solid crop of the previous 23 names debuted between 1997 and 2001 when divisions either didn’t have champions established yet or were in their infancy. The small number of events and fights during that era in company history created a situation where it was perfectly reasonable to debut in a title fight because the sport was still so new.

Those names included: Maurice Smith, Frank Shamrock, Igor Zinoviev, Jeremy Horn, John Lober, Jorge Patino, Andre Pederneiras, John Alessio, Caol Uno, and Gil Castillo.

There’s another critical window in play if you fast forward from 2011 to 2018, when the organization introduced multiple new weight classes. The men’s featherweight and bantamweight divisions where folded in from WEC, women’s bantamweight was brought in from Strikeforce, then men’s flyweight, as well as women’s strawweight, women’s flyweight, and women’s featherweight got their space on the roster.

Jose Aldo, Dominick Cruz and Ronda Rousey were all pre-crowned champions upon entry into the UFC, meaning their respective debuts were technically in title bouts. Rousey made her debut against Liz Carmouche, who was also fighting for the company for the first time, and when Cris Cyborg was champion at women’s featherweight, Invicta FC champs Tonya Evinger and Yana Kunitskaya debuted against her as challengers, but the weight class was far from an established one.

Those are the majority of fighters who fit under the umbrella of this discussion, but how many of them really apply to the spirit of the question?

Another curious case is that of Joe Soto, who was scheduled to make his UFC debut on the undercard of UFC 177 in August 2014 against Anthony Birchak, but wound up being thrust into a bantamweight title fight with T.J. Dillashaw the day before the event when Renan Barao injured himself during his weight cut.

Soto technically belongs on the list, but he was an extremely unique 11th hour replacement, and the UFC never planned on putting him into that title fight until it was a last resort.

Given all that, there are truly only a few instances of a debuting name who fought an established champion in an established division as the chosen and promoted challenger.

• Hayato Sakurai, who had a tremendous run in Shoot and had only lost to Anderson Silva at that point in his career, challenged then-welterweight champion Matt Hughes in his debut at at UFC 36 in March 2002, and lost by fourth-round TKO.
• Frank Trigg, who had recently won the WFA champion, got an immediate title shot against Hughes at UFC 45 in November 2003, and lost by first-round submission.
• Gilbert Melendez, who was the Strikeforce lightweight champion when the now-defunct promotion was merged with UFC, got a debut title shot against then-lightweight kingpin Benson Henderson at UFC on FOX 7 in April 2023, and lost a split decision.

That brings the total to 23 names, but an argument can be made only the three above fit the same criteria as what Asakura is experiencing at UFC 310. History shows it’s an uphill climb as it’s an 0-3 record for athletes who have walked down this path.

Can Asakura (21-4 MMA, 0-0 UFC) pull off what would arguably be the first true debut title fight victory against Pantoja (28-5 MMA, 12-3 UFC) at UFC 310? We will find out on Saturday.

UFC research analyst and live statistics producer Michael Carroll contributed to this story. Follow him on X @MJCflipdascript.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 310.