Alexandre Pantoja proved too much for Brandon Moreno once again, defeating his rival in an instant classic at UFC 290.
Moreno was making the first defense of his second reign as flyweight champion and hoped to settle the score with Pantoja. The two previously met in 2018, with Pantoja walking away with a decision win. Following that defeat, Moreno worked his way up the ranks and became a two-time flyweight champion following his brutal quadrilogy with Deivison Figuereido.
Pantoja would work his way up to Moreno and made it count when the two rivals faced off again. The bout was nonstop action for five rounds, starting with Pantoja dropping Moreno in the first, and hurting him again later in the round. Moreno recovered, and the two battled at a torrid pace with each round fought at a dead heat.
As the fight went into the fourth round, Pantoja took advantage of the slower pace with his grappling. Though Moreno would defend against any submission attempts, Pantoja’s ground control likely won him those final two rounds and the flyweight title. Even as the two mercilessly beat each other until the final bell, the fight could have gone either way as the judges turned in their scores.
Judges awarded Pantoja the win by split decision, with scores of 48-47 and a dissenting score of 49-46 for Moreno. Their savage war was recognized with Fight of the Night honors.
According to UFC Stats, Moreno outlanded Pantoja 147-129 in significant strikes. However, Pantoja scored six takedowns and had Moreno looking in dire straights on the mat.
With the win, Pantoja wins the flyweight title and moves to 26-5.
Moreno, likely to face Pantoja again at some point, drops to 21-7
