Kai Asakura’s next fight will be against Qileng Aori at UFC Fight Night 286 in Shanghai, China on August 29th.
A former Rizin bantamweight champion, the 32-year-old Asakura joined the UFC in late 2024 and headed straight into a flyweight title shot against Alexandre Pantoja, which he lost by submission in the second round.
Asakura then suffered another submission defeat against Tim Elliott, but he’s since rebounded with a 1st round knockout victory over Cameron Smotherman back in May, marking the 14th win via strikes of his 22-6 career.
Now Asakura will return to action against the 33-year-old Aori, who has only managed to put together a 4-5 (+1nc) record since joining the promotion back in 2021.
That includes going 1-1 in the past 12 months, with a 21 second TKO victory over Cody Gibson Jr last year being followed by a 2nd round TKO loss to Cody Hadden just a couple of months ago.
Asakura vs. Aori joins a UFC Fight Night 286 card that will be headlined by a bantamweight fight between Umar Nurmagomedov and Song Yadong, while Yan Xiaonan vs. Denise Gomes and Su Madaerji vs. Alex Perez are also confirmed for the promotion’s latest trip to Shanghai.
