The co-main event for UFC 290 seems to be set. Flyweight champion, Brandon Moreno will meet Alexandre Pantoja for the 125lbs strap during international fight week. The news was first reported by Freak MMA via Instagram.
Champion Brandon Moreno will fight Alexandre Pantoja at #UFC290 on July 8th. (first rep. Freak MMA on IG) #UFC #MMA #UFCESPN #UFC2023 #IFW2023 #FLYWChampionship pic.twitter.com/ZDQiJsTvHc
— Marcel Dorff 🇳🇱🇮🇩 (@BigMarcel24) April 12, 2023
UFC 290 is set to be headlined by a title fight between featherweight champion, Alexander Volkanovski and interim champ, Yair Rodriguez.
Flyweight Title bout
Moreno will finally get to defend his flyweight title against someone not named Deiveson Figueiredo. Four of Moreno’s last five fights have been against his Brazillian rival, with the one exception being against Kai Kara-France in an interim title bout back in July 2022 for the interim title.
Moreno, having finished Figueiredo for a second time back in January accepted that Pantoja would be the next contender and it appears that the Mexican was true to his word.
Pantoja is on a hot run of form, winning four of his last five, with the only loss on that run coming to Askar Askarov. On this run, he’s picked up big wins over Brandon Royval and Alex Perez, both by rear naked choke, which earned him performance of the night honours on both occasions. He’s served at the back-up fighter twice for title fights, once in 2020 and again at UFC 277.
Ranked #2, only behind Figueiredo, Pantoja is the next logical contender for Moreno’s title. Expect high action, a fast pace and a skilful war for as long as it lasts!