Alexandre Pantoja beat Brandon Moreno for the third time in an action-packed fight as he won the flyweight title at UFC 290.
Moreno and Pantoja were fighting for the third time in all competitions, as the rivals first met seven years ago when Pantoja tapped the Mexican on the UFC's reality TV show The Ultimate Fighter. Moreno was beaten by decision in their professional rematch two years later, a loss that led to him being cut by the UFC.
Pantoja started the fight by blitzing towards Moreno but the Mexican did a good job of reversing the position to press his rival against the fence. The Las Vegas crowd was cheering on Moreno as he put together some good combinations, but they were silenced when Pantoja dropped him with a left hand.
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Moreno began to leak blood after an onslaught of elbows from Pantoja on the ground. The rivals continued to slug it out at the start of the second round as the high pace of the fight was by no means slowing down. Moreno took Pantoja's back and was hunting for a rear-naked choke and the Mexican racked up a good amount of control time on the mat.
Pantoja flipped the script in the third round as he took Moreno’s back and looked for a choke of his own. Pantoja looked dejected and was covered in blood when getting back to his feet, but the fight was still neck and neck heading into the championship rounds. The action slowed down in the fourth round as both men were seemingly happy to get their breaths back.
Moreno was landing the better punches in the final round but Pantoja landed a takedown at the midway point of the stanza. Pantoja latched onto a body triangle and was attempting to tap his rival out in the final minute but Moreno defended well until the final bell. The judges saw it 46-49, 48-47 and 48-47 in favour of Pantoja as the Brazilian was crowned the new flyweight champion.
“If you know my story you are going to love me, I have worked so hard for this," Pantoja said after the fight. "Moreno evolved so much, I didn’t expect to face such a tough guy tonight. In the first round I thought he was done, this guy deserves my respect but now it is my moment.”
