Alexandre Pantoja ‘Not Big Enough’ For Champ Merab Dvalishvili, Per Dana White’s Ex-UFC Flyweight

Alexandre Pantoja should focus on building 125-pound legacy instead of challenging Merab Dvalishvili, according to Muhammad Mokaev.

Alexandre Pantoja ‘Not Big Enough’ For Champ Merab Dvalishvili, Per Dana White’s Ex-UFC Flyweight

Ex-UFC fighter thinks Alexandre Pantoja should not challenge Merab Dvalishvili (Source: X)

The UFC executives’ stance on multi-division glory remains tight, with working in their own weight classes taking precedence for fighters. However, said fighters do keep the dream alive and even instigate champ-versus-champ talks to try their luck at different classes down the road. Alexandre Pantoja has his eyes up at 135 pounds and Merab Dvalishvili in mind.

Merab Dvalishvili defeated Sean O’Malley a second time via third-round submission (guillotine) – at about 4:42 into the round. Now, he is racking up talks of a title defense against the ‘deserving’ No. 4-ranked bantamweight contender Cory Sandhagen after UFC 316.

Alexandre Pantoja, for his part, has defended gold thrice against Brandon Royval, Steve Erceg, and RIZIN FC signee Kai Asakura since snagging it from Brandon Moreno in 2023. However, Dana White’s reject Muhammad Mokaev, a former teammate of “Cannibal,” thinks he should not be eyeing north.

I see articles about people [saying] he should fight Merab and I said, no, he should not fight Merab, …He’s not big enough to fight Merab, size-wise. I would say myself, I’m not a big [enough] flyweight to fight Merab. Merab is strong for bantamweight, very strong. I say realistically, not just hating on about Pantoja. I’m saying about myself…Merab is big guy! And I would say he’s better to stay at flyweight and make a legacy instead of him jumping over. It’s gonna take him time to put weight on.

Muhammad Mokaev to Guilherme Cruz (@guicruzzz) for MMAFighting on SBN

No active UFC champion has more ballot defenses of the gold than Alexandre Pantoja; specifically, now that longtime reigning UFC 155-pound champ Islam Makhachev [5] has vacated for a move up north. However, Mokaev thinks his old teammate would have a horrendous weight cut effort and is on the smaller side of things to match Merab Dvalishvili at 135 pounds.

He even iterated the case of Deiveson Figueiredo, who has had his modest struggles at bantamweight so far, and it’s unlike his run at a weight class down. Figgy recently dropped thrilling affairs at UFC Macau, and then another against Sandhagen this May. Pantoja, who is smaller than him, is projected not to fare well despite his berserker power. Dvalishvili, though, is mildly interested in the prospect of such a matchup.

Merab Dvalishvili is willing to face off against the current flyweight champion, Alexandre Pantoja

Alexandre Pantoja is ready to log a defense and co-headline the UFC 317 PPV card. He locks horns with Kai Kara-France — whom he’d previously beaten on their TUF run in 2016. However, the American Top Team flyweight has always been interested in driving up the bargain as a big PPV draw and headline major events.

Merab Dvalishvili believes fight vs. Alexandre Pantoja would interest fans
Merab Dvalishvili believes fight vs. Alexandre Pantoja would interest fans (Source: X)

Logging a matchup against two-time defending and 13-fight streaking UFC 135-pound kingpin Merab Dvalishvili counts as an interesting one. Sandhagen seems to be the next one up, but Petr Yan and Umar Nurmagomedov have also been possible top contenders in the wings for undisputed gold.

However, “Machine” has thrown in Alexandre Pantoja in the mix too, saying this could be quite an interesting fight that fans would want to see, given their styles.

Yes, if he will move up in my weight class and UFC is interested in this. No problem. I’m sure a lot of people will be interested in this fight. I respect Pantoja. Pantoja will be a tough opponent for me, …If Pantoja wants this and if the UFC wants this, I have no problem with that…

Merab Dvalishvili on “The Ariel Helwani Show” for ‘Uncrowned’ Combat

Pantoja is poised to defend his flyweight title during IFW Festivities at the conclusion of the month. If he wins, perhaps the Brazilian star will think about moving up to bantamweight, and Dvalishvili is ready to make that fight happen.

Also Read: