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

Former RIZIN FF champion Kai Asakura has sparked interest in the topic as he prepares for the chance to face Alexandre Pantoja in his first Octagon appearance on Saturday at UFC 310, taking place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (ESPN+). to challenge for the UFC flyweight title Pay-per-view, ESPN2, Hulu, ESPN+).

In the broadest sense, Asakura will be the 24th fighter to make his UFC debut in a championship. However, not all title fight debuts are subject to the same level of integrity.

Asakura is fighting an established champion with multiple defenses in a division that is legitimately populated on the UFC roster, and that is a rare circumstance.

First, it’s worth noting that a solid selection of the 23 names debuted between 1997 and 2001, when the divisions either had not yet established champions or were still in their infancy. The small number of events and fights in this era of the company’s history meant that it made perfect sense to debut in a title fight since the sport was still so new.

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

Fast forward from 2011 to 2018 and there is another critical window in play when the organization introduced several new weight classes. The men’s featherweight and bantamweight divisions were taken over by the WEC, the women’s bantamweight came from Strikeforce, then the men’s flyweight as well as the women’s strawweight, the women’s flyweight and the women’s featherweight received their place on the roster.

Jose Aldo, Dominick Cruz and Ronda Rousey were all already crowned champions when they entered the UFC, meaning their respective debuts technically came in title fights. Rousey made her debut against Liz Carmouche, also fighting for the company for the first time, and when Cris Cyborg became women’s featherweight champion, Invicta FC champions Tonya Evinger and Yana Kunitskaya debuted as challengers against her, but the weight class was wide away from an established one.

That’s most of the fighters that fit the scope of this discussion, but how many of them really fit the spirit of the question?

Another strange case is that of Joe Soto, who was scheduled to make his UFC debut at UFC 177 in August 2014 against Anthony Birchak, but was locked in a bantamweight title fight with TJ Dillashaw against Renan the day before the event Barao was injured in his weight loss.

Soto technically belongs on the list, but he was an extremely unique 11th-hour replacement and the UFC never intended to put him in this title fight until it was a last resort.

With that in mind, there are really few examples of a debutant fighting as a selected and promoted challenger against an established champion in an established division.

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

That brings the total to 23 names, but it can be argued that only the three above fit the same criteria as what Asakura is experiencing at UFC 310. History shows that things are uphill, as there is an 0-3 record for athletes who have gone downhill this way.

Can Asakura (21-4 MMA, 0-0 UFC) do what would probably be the first? TRUE Debut title fight win against Pantoja (28-5 MMA, 12-3 UFC) at UFC 310? We’ll find out on Saturday.

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

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