TORONTO – Alexandre Pantoja is more focused on the location of his next fight than who he will be defending his UFC flyweight title against.
After logging his first defense of the belt with a unanimous decision win over Brandon Royval at UFC 296 in December, Pantoja (27-5 MMA, 11-3 UFC) is targeting a return to the octagon at what is expected to be UFC 301 on May 4 in Rio de Janeiro, according to his head coach Marcos “Parrumpa” DaMatta of American Top Team.
“He’s back training – he wants to defend his title in Rio in May,” DaMatta told MMA Junkie. “That’s something that we’re really asking the UFC and his managers to make it happen, because it means a lot to him. It’s the first time that he’s going to fight in Rio de Janeiro. He even said that to me, ‘I’ve fought everywhere. I’ve fought in Korea. I’ve fought in the United States, Abu Dhabi, Europe – I’ve never said no to any fight, please just let me defend with my people.'”
The date and location for Pantoja’s next fight all makes sense. What is more unclear, however, is which fighter would be the frontrunner to challenge for the 125-pound strap.
A potential title eliminator between Manel Kape and Matheus Nicolau fell apart earlier this month when Kape missed weight at UFC Fight Night 234 and the bout was canceled. Additionally, Amir Albazi was forced to withdraw from a matchup with Brandon Moreno at UFC Mexico City on Feb. 24, and he was subsequently replaced by Royval.
Given the current landscape, DaMatta thinks Moreno will be the leading candidate if he handles business against Royval. It would a quick turnaround for him to fight in Brazil, but DaMatta sees it as realistic, despite the fact Pantoja has already beaten Moreno on three different occassions in professional and exhibition competition, including a title-winning effort at UFC 290 in July.
“We’re just hoping that we get there in Rio,” DaMatta said. “There’s a lot of tough guys in the division. Why do the fourth Moreno fight? Why do the third Royval fight? Even Kape. We already fought Kape. But I believe Kape has a little bit of problem making weight. He was a bit too big in between fights. Hopefully he gets his things together because he’s a very dangerous opponent, very tough opponent. There’s a lot names. Albazi is still in the picture. Hopefully he gets healthy soon. We’ll see.
“I truly believe if Moreno wins in Mexico City, UFC is going to try to push for the fourth Moreno fight. The only problem that I see is in between Feb. 24 and May 4, is exactly 10 weeks. The first and last week doesn’t count. He’s going to have eight weeks to prepare for a fight. Since he’s already preparing, hopefully he doesn’t get hurt or anything and we can make it happen in Brazil. I think he will say yes because he won the title in Brazil. He doesn’t have any problems going to Brazil and fighting a Brazilian. So let’s see.”
