Brandon Moreno set to defend his title against Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 269?


Brandon Moreno set to defend his title against Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 269?

Brandon Moreno and Alexandre Pantoja

Brandon Moreno will have an uphill task as he is expected to face Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 269. The event is set to take place on the 11th of December, later this year. The fight is yet to be confirmed by a big MMA outlet with reports coming from third-tier outlets like Michael Bisping’s @fightclub.

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Brandon Moreno won the flyweight title only this year, after beating Deiveson Figueiredo in the co-main event of UFC 263. His fight against Alexandre Pantoja will be his first-ever title defense. The Mexican will be looking forward to doing all it takes to defend his belt.

Alexandre Pantoja has beaten Brandon Moreno twice before!

UFC 263 Deiveison Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno
Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno

Moreno is coming off back-to-back wins over Deiveson Figueiredo. The first time the pair met, was UFC 256 in December 2020. The fight, one of the greatest fights of all time ended in a majority draw, saw Figueiredo retain his flyweight title. A rematch was agreed upon in the immediate aftermath.

At UFC 263, in June 2021, Moreno beat Figueiredo via. submission (rear-naked choke) to become the first champion from Mexico. The win also earned him the Performance of the Night award.

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Pantoja, on the other hand, is on a two-fight win streak. His last win came against Brandon Royval at UFC on ESPN: Cannonier vs Gastelum in August 2021. With no knockout or submission losses to his name, Pantoja will be a tough nut to crack. Plus, he already has two wins over Moreno – back in May 2018 and in 2016 at TUF (exhibition), which will do his confidence a world of good.

There is already a bit of bad blood between Pantoja and Moreno, after the former accused Moreno of running scared, referring to his earlier win over the Mexican. Can ‘The Assassin Baby’ successfully defend his flyweight title?

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