Brazil’s Alexandre Pantoja is a marked man at 125-pounds.
The UFC’s flyweight champion has run through a who’s-who of contenders in recent outings in the cage, sending the likes of Manel Kape, Brandon Royval and Brandon Moreno packing as part of a six-fight win streak which culminated in him winning the world title from former champion Brandon Moreno in July of last year.
But with the UFC struggling to find a suitable opponent for the 28-5 champion, at next month’s UFC 310 in Las Vegas Pantoja will welcome the 21-4 Japanese Kai Asakura to the UFC — with the former Rizin bantamweight champion finding himself in the somewhat unusual position of receiving a title bout in his very first fight for the organisation.
Pantoja, though, is about as difficult an assignment as there is in the UFC’s lighter weight categories — just ask Steve Erceg in what was Pantoja’s most recent title defence this past May which you can watch in full below.
–