Asakura knocks out Smotherman in under two minutes at UFC Macau to earn first UFC win

Kai Asakura recorded his first UFC win on Saturday, knocking out Cameron Smotherman at 1:something of round one in a bantamweight bout at UFC Macau. The finish came inside two minutes and earned Asakura a $100,000 performance bonus, improving his professional record to 22-6.

The result marks a significant turning point for the Japanese fighter, who arrived in the UFC with considerable fanfare as the reigning Rizin Fighting Federation bantamweight champion but struggled to find his footing in the promotion. Asakura opened his UFC career at flyweight, where his debut was a title shot against Alexandre Pantoja in 2024 — a steep ask that ended with Pantoja submitting him via rear-naked choke. A second flyweight outing at UFC 319 went no better, with Tim Elliott forcing a tap via guillotine choke.

Moving back up to bantamweight — the division where he made his name in Rizin — appears to have been the right call. Asakura was emphatic in his post-fight assessment.

“Having moved up to this division and having actually done this fight, I definitely do feel like this is the right one for me,” Asakura said in a post-fight interview. “I think in terms of the power, the strength and the speed this division is right for me.”

The knockout over Smotherman offers Asakura a clean slate after two consecutive submission losses and suggests the 135-pound class suits his physical attributes far better than flyweight did. Whether the UFC matches him with a ranked bantamweight next remains to be seen, but a dominant performance bonus finish gives the promotion every reason to test him at a higher level sooner rather than later.