Alexandre Pantoja: Flyweight’s Most Underrated

Alexandre Pantoja: Flyweight’s Most Underrated

By James Lee

With the last UFC event of the year taking place in South Korea this Saturday, the stage is high for those who need to end the year positively.

One of those men is Brazilian Alexandre Pantoja. Perhaps the most underrated fighter in the flyweight division.

In fact, he was on a bit of a winning streak before he lost his last fight to Deiveson Figueiredo so he must bounce back against fellow TUF 22 alumni Matt Schnell in Busan.

Pantoja was the heavy favourite to win the The Ultimate Fighter flyweight Series before he fell short to Japanese fighter Hiromasa Ogikubo, but since his UFC debut, he has gone 5-2 in the promotion, with wins over notable fighters in Wilson Reis and Brandon Moreno.

As it has been for years, the flyweight division is chaotic and confusing with its status still unknown and Henry Cejudo’s reign as champion could come to an end at any time.

Joseph Benavidez is the clear next title contender, but oddly more than in other division’s, anybody seems to beat anybody in the flyweight rankings and a sustainable top five has yet to be established since its creation in March 2012.

For example and in relevance to the weekend’s fight, American Dustin Ortiz beat Alexandre Pantoja in January 2018 but lost to Wilson Reis two years prior. However, Pantoja finished Reis in the first round in April of this year.

Although situations like that happen in every division, it is definitely more prevalent at flyweight.

Looking back at it now, the Brazilian’s win over Brandon Moreno looks especially good when considering his performance this past weekend at UFC 245. The Mexican looked sharp on his way to beating Kai Kara-France by decision and taking a top five spot in the division.

Pantoja currently stands at rank #4 in the division and Schnell is at #9 so a loss would see him drop considerably down the division.

A win however could put him just one away from a title shot at 125 lbs.