Following his razor-close decision win over Steve Erceg earlier this year, Alexandre Pantoja is enjoying some well-deserved time away from the sport – but the UFC flyweight champion is eager to return to action before the year’s out.
Yet the flyweight division and subsequent title picture are remarkably different today as to what it was when ‘The Cannibal’ faced Steve Erceg in Brazil; with one new contender signed to the promotion, and another top prospect unceremoniously exiting the scene.
Champion Alexandre Pantoja opens up on the UFC flyweight title picture
Whilst UFC champion Alexandre Pantoja has wins over five of the top nine ranked flyweights in the world, there are still plenty of potential challengers vying for a shot at his shiny 125lb title.
Speaking with Matt Serra and Jim Norton via UFC Unfiltered, Pantoja was able to open up on the state of the flyweight division and who his next potential could be; first up to the stand, New Zealand’s own Kai Kara-France.
Despite earning a brutal knockout victory over Steve Erceg, who himself took ‘The Cannibal’ to a razor-close decision, Pantoja believes that ‘Don’t Blink’ could still need one more win to secure his title shot.
“Kai Kara-France lost to [Brandon] Royval, [Brandon] Moreno, and [Amir] Albazi so maybe he needs one more but the UFC knows how to plan and play the game so whoever is my next opponent, I’m going to be ready.
“We see new names in the division, the UFC makes some movements, bring in another guy for flyweight and now you see who they try to come back to – that’s going to be interesting and very fun for me.”
That ‘new name’ who Pantoja is referring to is 21-4 Japanese superstar and former Rizin bantamweight champion, Kai Asakura, who signed to the promotion in June and is expected to make the move down from 135lbs to 125lbs as he hunts UFC gold.
Yet there’s another Japanese star who also appears to have caught the attention of the champion, 24-year-old undefeated prospect Tatsuro Taira – whose upcoming fight against Brandon Royval was brought up a few times by Pantoja during the conversation.
“Royval has a fight with Taira which is a very good matchup, that’s going to be very interesting to watch that fight… What I want to see is Royval vs Taira; the Japanese are tough guys; I have a couple of Japanese guys coming to American Top Team to train here and this guy is very good.
“He [Taira] has something because all these guys are so strong, that’s good for me and I know for Taira, he is the real deal you know.”
Tatsuro Taira vs Brandon Royval is currently scheduled to headline a Fight Night card at the Apex on October 12.
Back to the rest of the contenders, and whilst Pantoja noted that he doesn’t know the status of Amir Albazi’s recovery from injury, the controversial axing of Mohammad Mokaev has certainly put a damper on the title picture – especially for Manel Kape.
“Amir Albazi, I don’t know what’s happening [with him] whether he is 100% recovered or not, we have Manel Kape, but he fought [and lost to] Mokaev… He was maybe the next [guy in line].
“That’s the worst thing to happen for Manel Kape, he lost to the one guy who doesn’t fight no more for the UFC,” stated the Brazilian brawler, before confirming that he would like to return to action before the end of December 2024.
“I don’t have a real opponent right now, I don’t know what’s happening but what I want is to fight before the end of the year; it doesn’t matter who, I’m going to be ready.”
Pantoja labels 2024 as the ‘Year of the Flyweights’ after so many headlines
Flyweight has always struggled in comparison to other UFC divisions but considering all the main event fights that have featured 125lb fighters, as well as the controversy regarding Mokaev and Kape, Pantoja believes that this is the year that the division has bloomed in the public’s eye.
“I’m super excited, I see a lot of movement in my division and that’s nice because we’ve made a lot of main events this year – I think 2024 is the Year of the Flyweights.
“A lot of good movements, a lot of good fights… Such good things are happening in the division, you see Taira coming, top 10 fights with the champ.”
The champion acknowledged that after a tough few years, a period dominated by recurring rematches and ‘best-of-the-rest’ contenders, the excitement around flyweight is finally starting to pick up once again.
“I really appreciate what’s happening now because four years ago, everybody says bad things but right now, if you say bad things about my division then you are a casual… At the end of the year, I make something very special.”
Fingers crossed we see Pantoja return to title action before the end of the year, with the November and December PPV cards still yet to be officially announced by the UFC.