UFC champ Alexandre Pantoja wants to see Amir Albazi fight Brandon Royval to determine challenger

UFC flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja doesn’t see a clear-cut contender for his first title defense.

Pantoja (25-5 MMA, 9-3 UFC) dethroned Brandon Moreno (21-6-2 MMA, 9-3-2 UFC) to claim the flyweight title in this past Saturday’s UFC 290 co-main event. Weighing in as a backup for their fight was Brandon Royval, whom Pantoja submitted in August 2021.

Also recently emerging as a top contender was Amir Albazi (17-1 MMA, 5-0 UFC), who edged out Kai Kara-France (24-11 MMA, 7-4 UFC) in the UFC on ESPN 45 main event in June. However, Pantoja doesn’t think anyone has quite earned the title shot yet. He suggests Albazi fight Royval to determine the No. 1 contender.

“I respect Amir a lot. He’s making a good job, but he just took one guy off the top 10 with a close fight,” Pantoja told MMA Junkie. “Brandon Royval, that’s a very good name. I like this kid, but I beat him in my last two fights. Put these guys to fight end of the year, and take one and give to me. Who deserves it more, put these guys to fight. That’s what I think is the best choice.”

Pantoja isn’t against running things back with Moreno but would like to see fresh blood in the division get their shot. In a pre-fight interview with MMA Junkie, Pantoja envisioned dominating Moreno, so is a little disappointed with his performance.

“I respect Moreno a lot, I want to fight with Moreno, of course, because I think I need to prove more for me, not for everyone,” Pantoja said. “For me, because I know I can finish him. It’s not disrespecting him. It’s about my vision, about the life and my vision of what I do in the gym.

“At this point, I don’t think he needs to fight again for the belt. I wait a lot for this belt. I think the UFC needs to give the opportunity to other guys. Moreno fought for the belt for the last three years, and I wait for that. There are a lot of guys in the division that wait for that too. I respect all the division. Everybody doing a lot of beautiful work.”