Dana White open to signing more RIZIN fighters despite Kai Asakura’s loss at UFC 310: “I would love to do it”
UFC President Dana White is open to working with RIZIN after Kai Asakaura’s debut over the weekend.
On Saturday night in Las Vegas, the former two-time RIZIN bantamweight champion made his promotional debut. In the main event of UFC 310, Kai Asakura met longtime flyweight champion, Alexandre Pantoja. With ‘The Cannibal’ having beaten most of the top ten, Dana White gave the Japanese star a title shot in his debut.
While Kai Asakura came up short by second-round submission, the fight was entertaining while it lasted. Despite the loss, many praised the former RIZIN champion. One name that praised Asakura was UFC President Dana White, who discussed the bout in the post-fight press conference. There, the promoter offered a lot of support to both headliners.
At the UFC 310 post-fight presser, Dana White was asked about working with RIZIN moving forward. While Saturday’s event wasn’t a co-promotion, it felt like it at times. Highlights of Kai Asakura in Japan were shown in pre-fight promos and RIZIN founder Nobuyuki Sakakibara was also in attendance. While White feuded with the Japanese businessman back in the 2000s, they’re on friendly terms today.
Dana White says he’s open to working with RIZIN FF to bring more champions to UFC despite Kai Asakura’s loss at #UFC310. pic.twitter.com/cVykjjl9Ew
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) December 8, 2024
UFC President Dana White interested in working with RIZIN following Kai Asakura’s debut
Furthermore, Dana White is indeed interested in signing more RIZIN fighters. One name that the promoter seemed intrigued by is rising atomweight star Seika Izawa. ‘Supernova’ currently holds an undefeated 14-0 record, last defeating Kanna Asakura by unanimous decision in September.
“Yeah [I’m interested in signing other RIZIN fighters], we did it tonight.” Dana White stated at the UFC 310 presser. “He had a good performance. I would love to do it. Obviously, having these up and coming Japanese fighters [is good]. We were just talking in my room, [Sakakibara] is saying, in Japan, all these young guys want to be the first one to win a world title in the UFC.”
He continued, “So, that’s exciting. There’s such a rich history of MMA in Japan, and some of the best days of my life was our rivalry with PRIDE. That was a really fun time in my life, and his too, we were talking about it. So the answer is yes, to all of that. I would love to do a fight night there too. Yeah, [Izawa would be an interesting signing], thank you sir.”
What do you make of these comments from UFC President Dana White? Would you like to see the company sign other RIZIN fighters?
This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM
Topics:
Dana White Kai Asakura RIZIN FF UFC
