Alexandre
Pantoja was able to benefit from a different perspective at
UFC
311.
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The reigning flyweight champion was in Renato „Money“ Moicano’s corner for his lightweight title bout against
Islam
Makhachev at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles on Jan. 18. Even
though his teammate lost via first-round submission, Pantoja found
it to be a valuable experience.
“As a fighter it’s very important to have the opportunity to see a
fight from the trainer’s point of view,” Pantoja told Sherdog.com.
“I told ‘Moicano’ that he gave a child a VIP ticket to visit Willy
Wonka’s Chocolate Factory.”
Pantoja also revealed an interesting detail regarding the night
American Top Team training partner Arman
Tsarukyan had to withdraw from the main event, which resulted
in him being replaced by “Moicano” on one day’s notice.
„When I woke up I got a voice message from Parrumpa [coach
Marcos da
Matta] saying, ‘Call me as soon as you wake up,’” said Pantoja,
who initially thought he might be needed as a replacement for the
bantamweight title bout in the UFC 311 co-main event.
“The first thing I thought was that Umar [Nurmagomedov] got hurt
and UFC needed me to fight Merab [Dvalishvili], but as soon as I
talked to Parrumpa I found out that Tsarukyan got hurt and Moicano
took his place.”
Pantoja came away impressed by Dvalishvili’s performance in his
unanimous decision triumph against Nurmagomedov.
“Merab was perfect. He totally exposed Umar and showed why he is
the champion,” Pantoja said.
The UFC flyweight champion is intrigued by the possibility of
moving up to 135 pounds in a bid for two-division gold, but it
isn’t necessarily a priority.
“That would be amazing for my legacy,” he said. “If the UFC likes
that, I will be ready. But the fact is that I still have some
challenges in my division.”
Pantoja then revealed that the promotion asked him to return in
March. However, he countered with a request to compete the
following month.
“UFC asked me to return fight in March, but since I just fought, I
asked to fight in April in Miami, where I live,” Pantoja said. “I’m
really excited to fight for the first time near home. I hope they
can set me up on this card.”
As for the UFC 311 main event, Pantoja believes “Moicano” would
have fared better had he been able to have a full camp that focused
on Makhachev. “Moicano” was initially slated to face Beneil
Dariush on the same card before the last-minute change.
„I have no doubt that ‘Moicano’ would give a different fight to
Islam if he had done a camp for the champion. Fighting for the belt
is a different pressure,” Pantoja said. ‘Moicano’ was really well
prepared, but he had less than 24 hours to adjust his strategy
to face the current No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter. And actually, he
had hell of a first round.”
Pantoja added that “Moicano” wouldn’t have made the mistake he did
in succumbing to his opponent’s brabo choke if his focus had been
on Makhachev the entire time.
“Moicano is such a technical BJJ black belt,” Pantoja said. “I have
no doubt he knows how to defend that choke, but he just fell in
Islam’s trap. All credit to the champion. But I hope that after
another sequence of wins, he gets a chance to face the champion
again with a complete camp for him.”