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Alexandre Pantoja is furious that one UFC star is ahead of him in the pound-for-pound rankings… ‘That’s crazy’

Alexandre Pantoja believes he should be higher up the pound-for-pound rankings.

Last night, at UFC 317, the Brazilian produced a spectacular performance, beating Kai Kara-France via third-round rear-naked choke.

The excellent performance enhanced Pantoja’s already incredible legacy.

However, despite so many tremendous displays inside the octagon, the warrior is currently only ranked as the ninth-best pound-for-pound fighter in the promotion, which he’s not particularly pleased with.

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Alexandre Pantoja walking away from Kai Kara-France at UFC 317
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Alexandre Pantoja thinks he should be ranked higher than Jack Della Maddalena

Alexandre Pantoja believes he should be ahead of Jack Della Maddalena in the rankings.

In fact, there’s only one fighter ‘The Cannibal’ can truly accept deserves the pound-for-pound number one spot over him.

During the UFC 317 post-fight press conference, he raged: “It doesn’t make sense if I’m not the number two. I’m just behind Islam Makhachev. Five fights for the title, an eight-fight win streak, four title defences, numbers don’t lie.

“The only guy I would accept is Islam Makhachev because he has the numbers.

“I try to understand the pound-for-pound rankings, I think maybe it’s more victories or victories over ranked guys.

“Do you guys think I need to beat someone. You put Jack Della Maddalena in front of me. You think I need to beat Jack Della Maddalena to take his position? That’s crazy. It’s time to respect the flyweights.”

Alexandre Pantoja faces off with new no. 1 contender after choking rival

While Pantoja has already achieved so much, the brawler still has a lot left in the tank.

Straight after defending his flyweight strap, attention turned to his next showdown.

Following his post-fight interview, Pantoja faced off with the man likely to be his next opponent.