UFC men’s flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja has seemingly been looking for challenges as he has nearly cleaned out his division.
If you ask former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker, Pantoja need not consider moving up to bantamweight, at least not while Merab Dvalishvili is holding the title.
Whittaker discussed the possibility on a recent episode of his MMArcade podcast. Whittaker was asked by his co-host Jonny Roses who would win if Pantoja moved up in weight to challenge Merab for his bantamweight title.
“I love Pantoja, but Merab murders him, murders him,” Whittaker said. “If Pantoja goes up to Merab, Merab murders him…bad. I like Pantoja. He’s won me over a lot. He’s killed the division, but I don’t think Merab is where his double belt lies.”
Dvalishvili would seemingly be a terrible matchup for Pantoja. While cardio isn’t an Achilles’ heel for Pantoja, there may be no one in the history of the sport with a deeper gas tank than Dvalishvili.
What we saw the Georgian do against Nurmagomedov at UFC 311 was legendary. Dvalishvili’s pace, wrestling, and strength could be too much for the Brazilian.
Against Pantoja, Dvalishvili would enjoy something that he never gets at bantamweight: a size advantage.
Dvalishvili is not only an inch taller at 5-foot-6, but he’s also a naturally thicker-built man who would almost certainly be the bigger guy in the Octagon.
If Sean O’Malley and Nurmagomedov couldn’t get the better of Dvalishvili in the stand-up, it’s unlikely Pantoja would find success in that area of the fight.
While Pantoja’s submission skills are probably superior to Dvalishvili’s, the latter’s wrestling and power should allow him to hold his own in any grappling situations.
Quite honestly, there may not currently be a fighter who matches up well with Dvalishvili at flyweight or bantamweight.
Remember, Dvalishvili has already faced and defeated most of the top-ranked guys in his division. As for Pantoja, he is coming off a successful title defense against Kai Asakura in the main event of UFC 310 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas in December 2024.
He called out retired former flyweight kingpin Demetrious Johnson during his post-fight interview. Johnson quickly shot down the idea, saying he was happy staying retired and being a content creator on YouTube.
Rising contenders like Tatsuro Taira, Asu Almabayev, Tagir Ulabekov, Charles Johnson, and Joshua Van could be next. However, perennial contenders and former champions like Brandon Royval, Brandon Moreno, Manel Kape, Kai Kara-France, and others would like another chance to dethrone Pantoja.
What’s Next for the UFC?
There are no men’s flyweight fights scheduled for the next UFC card. However, there are two noteworthy middleweight scraps on tap for the February 1 card in Saudi Arabia.
- Israel Adesanya vs. Nassourdine Imavov – Middleweight (185 lbs)
- Sharabutdin Magomedov vs. Michael Page – Middleweight (185 lbs)
- Sergei Pavlovich vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik – Heavyweight (265 lbs)
- Said Nurmagomedov vs. Vinicius Oliveira – Bantamweight (135 lbs)
- Ikram Aliskerov vs. André Muniz – Middleweight (185 lbs)
- Muhammad Naimov vs. Kaan Ofli – Featherweight (145 lbs)
- Shamil Gaziev vs. Thomas Petersen – Heavyweight (265 lbs)
- Terrance McKinney vs. Damir Hadžović – Lightweight (155 lbs)
- Fares Ziam vs. Mike Davis – Lightweight (155 lbs)
- Jasmine Jasudavicius vs. Mayra Bueno Silva – Flyweight (125 lbs)
- Bogdan Grad vs. L. Alexander – Featherweight (145 lbs)
- Hamdy Abdelwahab vs. Jamal Pogues – Heavyweight (265 lbs)
- Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady vs. Bolaji Oki – Lightweight (155 lbs)
