Flyweight champion Brandon Moreno plans on surprising Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 290.
Moreno (21-6-2 MMA, 9-3-2 UFC) defends his title against Pantoja (25-5 MMA, 9-3 UFC) in the co-main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. It will be their third fight against each other.
Pantoja defeated Moreno twice – once by submission in the opening bout of Season 24 of “The Ultimate Fighter” in 2016, then by unanimous decision in their rematch at UFC Fight Night 129 in 2018, which led to Moreno’s UFC release. It’s been more than five years since they last fought, and Moreno vows he’s a different fighter.
“I can talk about a lot of different things like the technical part, the mental part, whatever, but the real difference for this fight will be I’m a better athlete,” Moreno said Monday on “The MMA Hour.” “I’m a better athlete, and I’ll show that on July 8.
“I said this before, and I’m going to say this right now: He never fought against the best Brandon Moreno in that moment when we fought each other, but right now I’m just focused on him. I’m just training for him, doing the game plan for him, and I’m ready, man.”
Since losing to Pantoja, Moreno has suffered only one loss to Deiveson Figueiredo – a setback he avenged in his most recent outing by doctor’s stoppage TKO at UFC 283 to reclaim his flyweight title.
In a recent interview with MMA Junkie, Pantoja said he seeks “complete domination” of Moreno and plans on replicating the performance he had against him in their rematch, where he bloodied him up and was awarded two 30-26 scorecards from the judges.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 290.
Alexandre Pantoja ‘never fought against the best Brandon Moreno,’ UFC champ says