MMA Revenge Rewind; Moreno Pantoja
(For MMA Underground https://www.mixedmartialarts.com/news/revenge-rewind-brandon-moreno-defends-ufc-flyweight-title-against-familiar-alexandre-pantoja)
This weekend, UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno (21-6-2 MMA, 9-3-2 UFC) is putting his belt on the line against No. 2-ranked Alexandre Pantoja (25-5 MMA, 9-3 UFC) in the co-main event of a stacked UFC 290 event.
Both fighters are coming off wins, with Pantoja beating Alex Perez in round 1 with a rear-naked choke in July 2022 and Moreno last fighting in January, securing the title once again in a win over former champion Deiveson Figueiredo via doctor’s stoppage.
Moreno and Pantoja have met in the octagon before and will be fighting nearly seven years after their first meeting as professionals. The two were introduced to the UFC by one another during the opening fight on “The Ultimate Fighter 24” where Pantoja got the better of then 22-year-old “The Assassin Baby” with a rear-naked choke in the second round.
Pantoja was the highest seed at “TUF 24,” which matched him up with the No. 16 seed Moreno in the first round. The top-ranked Pantoja went on to win one more fight in “TUF” against Kai Kara-France before losing in the semifinals to Hiromasa Ogikubo in a unanimous decision.
After their time on “TUF,” Moreno and Pantoja would meet one more time in 2018 on the preliminary card of UFC Fight Night 129, where once again Pantoja came out with the win, this time via unanimous decision where he threw more significant strikes than Moreno in all three rounds.
Much has changed since their most recent 2018 meeting, Pantoja has gone 6-2, with half of his wins coming from submission due to a rear-naked choke. Moreno has gone 7-1-2 in that same time, famously fighting Figueiredo four times in just over two years, which has resulted in him becoming the first ever Mexican-born UFC champion.
On Saturday, July 8, in Las Vegas, Moreno will look to add to his successful underdog story by getting revenge against the man who has beaten him twice before, and Pantoja will look to add to his own legacy by getting his first taste at UFC gold.