Brandon Moreno barely had time to celebrate his win over Deiveson Figueiredo to conclude their four-fight rivalry before he was already being confronted by a future –and past — opponent.
After reclaiming his flyweight title at the UFC 283 comain event, Moreno went backstage and met Alexandre Pantoja. Pantoja was the backup fighter for Saturday’s title bout with the hope that he could finally face the winner. Pantoja, who has a record of three wins and had two victories against Moreno, including an exhibition fight on The Ultimate Fighter , was clearly excited to be the next contender for a title shot.
According to Moreno, Pantoja’s exuberance may have gone just a little bit overboard after what started as a friendly post-fight encounter turned confrontational in the moment.
“He came [at] me and he was very friendly with me, to be honest,” Moreno revealed at the UFC 283 post-fight press conference. He came up to me when everything began and said “hey man, today, I feel so happy about you, congrats on the belt,” and everything went well from there.
“Then he started to ask me like ‘when is our fight? Within two months? In three months? Tell me right now!’ Like, I don’t know to be honest. He looked a bit more aggressive, but I only wanted to enjoy the moment. Give me today. This is my only point. Let me share this moment with my friends and my trainer partners with my wife and my manager. Then we can create [another fight] using social media and trash talk. That was my only point.”
Pantoja’s excitement was at least somewhat understandable given his status as the No. 1 contender in the division yet he’s been forced to sit idly by while waiting for Moreno and Figueiredo to finally settle their business.
With Moreno’s win on Saturday and Figueiredo already declaring his intention to move to bantamweight, it appears Pantoja finally gets his chance.
” “Right now, they’re very excited about the title fight and are a bit desperate for it to happen,” Moreno stated of Pantoja. We started in 2020, and finished in 2023. because of all the rivalry with Deiveson Figueredo. It’s crazy, I understand the other challengers but I’m ready.”
Pantoja did not give any further details about his encounter with Moreno backstage, but he was open to sharing his opinion on the UFC 283. fight.
” I want to state that I am not impressed,” Pantoja stated on UFC 283’s post-fight program. “Moreno is good, but I [beat] to him twice. I’m ready to be next. He should be called [out].. I will fight with him any place he wants. If he wants to fight in Mexico, whatever the place.
” I think this fight is logical. I beat him two times. Once when I finished him and the second one, I made it 30-26. A tough kid but all the time Moreno looks in my eyes, I see he’s afraid.”
At this point nearly five years have passed since Pantoja last defeated Moreno but the Brazilian still has that win along with their previous meeting on TUF to help boost his resume when it comes to title contention.
Moreno doesn’t seem to have any objections but he would like the UFC to consider Mexico as the ideal location for the fight, especially after he just traveled to Figueiredo’s backyard in Brazil.
” I think that as Mexicans, we should have a pay per view again in Mexico City,” Moreno stated. “I believe we are in an incredible position right now where Yair Rodriguez is fighting in February and Alexa Grasso in March. Nothing is official, but Irene Aldana seems like a clear possibility for Amanda [Nunes]..
“I think that this year is the best for mixed martial artists in Mexico. I’m excited. For sure, I want to go there.”
Source: https://www.mmafighting.com/2023/1/22/23566170/brandon-moreno-details-backstage-altercation-with-alexandre-pantoja-after-ufc-283-win?rand=96749
