As a reserve fighter for the UFC 283 co-main event, Alexandre
Pantoja was one of the first people to congratulate Brandon
Moreno backstage after the Mexican fighter regained the
flyweight title in Rio de Janeiro last weekend with a victory over
Deiveson
Figueiredo.
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The tone of that interaction quickly changed, however, when Moreno
claimed at the post-fight press conference that Pantoja became
aggressive in demanding to know a potential date for his own
championship opportunity. With a pair of victories over Moreno to
his credit (one was an exhibition on “The Ultimate Fighter 24”),
Pantoja seems to be the next logical No. 1 contender at 125
pounds.
“There is no other fight that makes sense now. In addition to being
the more highly-ranked guy, I beat the champion clearly twice,”
Pantoja told Sherdog.com. “Even Moreno recognized that at the press
conference, but when I met him after the fight he was standing up
celebrating and after I talked to him, he was seated in a
wheelchair. How come? I truly hope that doesn’t mean that he will
find an injury and avoid the trilogy for the belt.”
Pantoja believes Kai Kara
France was a more difficult challenge for Moreno than the
fourth meeting with Figueiredo.
“It was clear that Figueiredo’s worst battle was against the
scale,” Pantoja said. “I hope he can bring back his prime going up
to the bantamweight division. Clearly Kara France gave a tougher
fight to Brandon than Figueiredo.”
Hailing from Arraial do Cabo, a city located 100 miles from Rio de
Janeiro, Pantoja always dreamed to fight on a UFC card in front of
his people. Since Moreno won the belt in Brazil, however, Pantoja
is aware that he may have to go into hostile territory for a title
shot of his own.
“The energy around the arena was unbelivable,” Pantoja said. “In
addition to the crowd’s enthusiasm, we had Royce [Gracie],
Minotauro [Nogueira], Demian [Maia], [Jose] Aldo and so many
legends around the Octagon. I wouldnt lose to anyone in here. But I
don’t care where UFC makes that fight. If it’s Mexico or the U.S.,
I´ll be ready. I waited for so long, now it´s my turn.”
Pantoja recognizes that Moreno is a completely different fighter
than the one he defeated in 2016 and 2018.
“There’s no doubt Moreno evolved a lot in last five years. Besides
faster hands, he is much more consistent. But if he evolved, I
evolved much more,” Pantoja said. “I’ve been competing 15 years in
MMA. During that time I’ve learned new things from every team I’ve
trained with: TFT, Nova Uniao, Black House, [Henry] Cejudo.”
The Brazilian points to his last five years at American Top Team as
the turning point in his career.
“Besides the best structure and best trainers, ATT also has the
best sparring in the world,” he said. “There is no other place on
earth where you roll with a Horiguchi, Moraes, Jussier
Formiga and Moicano in sequence. That means you gotta give your
best all the time if you don’t want to have your head ripped off,
and that makes you evolve day by day.”
With two victories over Moreno already in hand, Pantoja’s mastery
over the champion could be compared to that of Alex
Pereira’s against Israel
Adesanya. Pereira claimed the middleweight belt at UFC 281 last
November after already earning a pair of victories against Adesanya
in professional kickboxing.
“Some people ask me if I believe I´ll be the ‘Poatan’ for Brandon
Moreno, and I just answer that I’m the Pantoja for Brandon
Moreno,” he said. “It´s pretty clear to me that he gets
uncomfortable whenever we meet. It´s just like when a pinscher mets
a pit bull.”
As far as Figueiredo’s move to bantamweight, Pantoja believes the
ex-champ must make the right decisions in his new weight class.
“If he can recapture the prime Deiveson, that one that beat Pantoja
and Moreno, he can be a threat in bantamweight division. In that
case he needs to keep taking care of diet and look for some place
he can get very tough sparring,” Pantoja said. “I’m not sure if he
has that in his hometown.”