LAS VEGAS — Alexandre Pantoja will fight for a UFC title for the first time Saturday at T-Mobile Arena when he challenges champion Brandon Moreno for the flyweight belt in the co-main event of UFC 290. Pantoja already has two wins over Moreno, coming by submission on “The Ultimate Fighter” in 2016 and by decision in a bout in Chile in 2018.
Despite his record against Moreno, Pantoja is humble and lavishes Moreno with praise.
As he talks about fighting Moreno, he seems to get emotional. One of his dreams, he said, was to stand in the center of the Octagon and brawl with Moreno, with the crowd on its feet and roaring at a fever pitch.
Five years ago, Moreno’s answer would have been easily predictable. Yes, the 2018 version of Moreno would undoubtedly have said, “I’d love to do that.”
But it’s 2023, not 2018, and much is different about Brandon Moreno. He has, as UFC president Dana White told Yahoo Sports on Monday, become a massive star.
“People love this kid; I mean, they loooooooooove him,” White said. “He’s become one of the biggest stars we have. When he goes out to do signings, it’s insane the number of people he gets. It’s at another level than [most of the other fighters]. I mean, he’s a huge, huge star.”
Moreno is popular because he wins, and he fights in an entertaining style, true. But it’s more than just that. Look at any picture of him when he’s not in the middle of a fight and you’ll notice one thing is generally true: He’s generally beaming from ear-to-ear.
He loves his job, he loves his family, he loves his life and he loves the adulation and adoration he gets from the fans. He knows the fans love him and so he’s come to realize that he doesn’t have to go outside of his game plan to make them like him.
When he’s asked about what Pantoja said about doing a Fight of the Year type battle with a sold-out blood-thirsty crowd roaring in delight, he interrupts before the question is completed.
“Winning,” he said. “That’s what matters. Winning. I just want to win. And I’m going to win. That’s what it’s about. Look, in another season of my life, at another point of my career, if you’d asked me that question and 100 percent, I would have said, ‘Yeah, man. I want all the people screaming my name and going nuts in the arena while I have this crazy fight with my opponent.’ But now, it’s very different.
“I have the support of the people. I know there will be a lot of Mexican blood around the arena. That’s great, and I am thankful for it, but it’s not like I’m going to go out there and seek that. It’s simple: I want to win. All the stuff about the fame and the attention, it’s cool. I love my fans, I really do. But I’m trying to build my legacy now so that not just the people now will know me. I want the people to remember me and what I did for as long as they’re still fighting.”
He faces a challenge Saturday against a guy who has beaten him twice. He’s about a 2-1 favorite at BetMGM over Pantoja, but that’s largely due to his recent run of success and a dominant win in January in Brazil over former champion Deiveson Figueiredo.
As confident as Pantoja is about winning again and claiming the world title, he understands he’s not facing the same guy he’s beaten twice previously.
“This sport is so tough and you have to work so hard, you can’t stay the same and expect to compete,” he said. “I respect what he’s done. He lost his job and he figured things out and he’s gotten better each fight and look where he is now. And I expect [on Saturday] I’ll see a guy who was even better than the one we saw [in January] against Deiveson.”
White raved about Moreno’s willingness to reinvent himself and for his strong mentality.
“You get here to the UFC and you’re fighting the best in the world every time out,” he said. “There are no easy fights. So you have to have the physical skills, but you need both. The mental aspect is a huge part of it, too. That’s extremely important. This kid is a dog. He’s got that typical Mexican fighter attitude and he’s going to compete as hard as he can for as long as he can.
“So you ask me about can he overcome mentally having lost twice to the same guy? That’s hard, but let’s talk Israel Adesanya.”
Adesanya, the UFC middleweight champion, was beaten three times by Alex Pereira, twice in kickboxing and once in the UFC, before returning in April and knocking Pereira out.
“In this sport and especially in the UFC, anyone can beat anyone else on any given night,” White said. “You have to be ready every time out. And that’s what Brandon has done. We cut him and he didn’t sulk or give up and get pissed off. He went out, figured out what it was he needed to do and built himself back to the point where he’s a world champion and one of the biggest stars without question in this sport.”
In retrospect, it’s clear that Moreno always had the talent to be a world-class fighter, but he needed to be refined. That he willingly accepted that and did what he had to do has led him to a point where he’s now etched his name firmly into the record books.
He’s a smart guy and knows that what has happened in the past isn’t necessarily an accurate predictor of the future.
“I understand what this fight is all about,” Moreno said. “I fought him twice and I lost twice. He did a great job in both fights. I can’t delete that from my past and that’s not even my goal. My goal was always to improve after every single loss, and really, after every single fight. Now, I have this third matchup against him in 2023 where he’s a hungry contender and I’m the champion. It’s a whole different experience for both of us.”
He pauses, as if he’s thinking of the perfect line to end on. He chuckles as it hits him.
“I’m just ready to fight, man,” Moreno said. “You put all this work in, you spend all this time and the reward is the fight. It’s time for me to fight. I’m just ready for this.”
