Alexandre Pantoja needs glory not only for himself, however for the whole flyweight division.
The 125-pound champion efficiently defended his title for a fourth consecutive time Saturday at UFC 317 with a dominant submission win over Kai Kara-France. Pantoja’s legendary toughness and elite grappling had been on full show as he waded by means of the challenger’s finest photographs to impose his will on the combat. Kara-France survived till Spherical 3, when Pantoja locked in a fight-ending rear-naked choke.
Heading into Saturday, Pantoja was tied with bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili for the No. 3 spot within the MMA Fighting Pound-for-Pound Rankings; now, he believes there’s just one title that deserves to be above him.
“It no make sense if I’m not No. 2,” Pantoja stated on the UFC 317 post-fight press convention. “I’m simply behind Islam Makhachev. Doesn’t make sense. 5 fights for a title. Eight victories on this streak. Second submission, 4 title protection, numbers don’t lie. The one man I’m accepting [ahead of me] is Islam Makhachev as a result of he has the numbers.
“I attempt to perceive the pound-for-pound rankings. I feel it’s extra victories, perhaps it’s victories with ranked guys, perhaps—I don’t know, guys assume I must beat somebody such as you put Jack Della Maddalena in entrance of me. You assume I must beat Jack Della Maddalena to get his place? That’s loopy. I feel it’s time to respect flyweight extra. Joshua Van, Brandon Royval, made perhaps the Battle of the Evening tonight. I make an excellent combat with Kai Kara-France. I feel it’s time for individuals to vary their thoughts. Flyweight is a really entertaining division and I feel issues want to vary.”
One combat earlier than Pantoja ran by means of Kara-France, high flyweight contenders Joshua Van and Brandon Royval threw down for 3 rounds. In the long run, Van gained a unanimous resolution, however both men earned Fight of the Night bonus money for placing on what might find yourself being essentially the most thrilling bout of 2025.
Pantoja believes the 125-pound division has by no means been extra thrilling, it doesn’t matter what some armchair specialists should say about it.
“I feel little by little we alter [the perception of the flyweight division],” Pantoja stated. “Fights like that, Joshua Van and Royval. My combat with Kai Kara-France. Fights like [Brandon] Moreno and [Amir] Albazi. We’ve got so many good fighters. I see the final yr, 2024, we had a whole lot of essential occasions with the flyweights, and I feel issues begin to change. That’s so cool.
“I see on YouTube and Instagram, individuals saying dangerous issues about my division. I don’t must say something in regards to the haters. Hardcore followers go and say, ‘Hey, shut your mouth, informal.’ Folks notice how good this division is true now and simply us can change that. I feel as a result of that entire division respects one another, it’s not dangerous blood with us.”
Pantoja has now gained eight straight fights and his UFC run contains victories over Kara-France, Royval, Moreno, Alex Perez, Manel Kape, and quite a few different high contenders. Although he has nothing however respect for Demetrious Johnson, broadly thought of the best flyweight of all time, Pantoja feels the division has extra depth and variety than ever earlier than.
“Joshua Van is so good, who can say totally different?” Pantoja stated. “He beat Royval. I feel Royval made some errors with him, tried to hurry an excessive amount of the combat, didn’t attempt to grapple lots. And in regards to the match with [Demetrious Johnson], I stated earlier than I actually need to combat with him. He stated he’s retired, he’s not coming again. Possibly it’s not good for him to come back again as a result of the flyweight division proper now could be so totally different. This excessive degree is totally different.
“I respect all the fellows opening the doorways for us however proper now you see, particularly in my division, you’ve got the entire world in the identical division. Prime 10, you’ve got guys from the entire world: Japan. Africa. Brazil. Russia. Australia. New Zealand. That’s so wonderful to be a part of that.”
