“I can definitely fight in the lightweight division,” MMAnews quoted the Brazilian as saying. “Everyone knows I’m small, not really big, but I’m thinking about moving up to lightweight and fighting Sean O’Malley – that would be a good story. But only with Sean O’Malley. I don’t want to go up a division to fight some Umar Nurmagomedov.”
Alexandre Pantoja will make his next defense of his championship belt on May 4 at UFC 301 in Rio de Janeiro against the lightweight division’s No. 10 Steve Erceg.
Undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov successfully resumed his career earlier this month after more than a year off, winning a unanimous decision over organization debutant Bekzat Almakhan to record his fifth UFC win.