Alexandre Pantoja Reacts to Merab Dvalishvili’s UFC 333 Loss After Suffering Similar Heartbreak
Former UFC flyweight titleholder Alexandre Pantoja knows exactly what Merab Dvalishvili is going through right now.
Pantoja lost his title to Joshua Van in the co-main event of UFC 323 last year due to a freak arm injury, and that same night, in the main event of the pay-per-view, Dvalishvili was also dethroned by Petr Yan.
Earlier this year, when "The Cannibal" returned to face Van in a rematch at UFC 331, he did everything he could to reclaim the flyweight title. However, despite putting on a gruelling five-round war, he failed to do enough to convince the judges and fell short.
This past weekend, Dvalishvili also failed to reclaim the bantamweight title against Yan in their trilogy bout at UFC 333. The Georgian phenom put on an exciting performance, relentlessly shooting for takedowns and showcasing his seemingly endless cardio in a potential Fight of the Year contender. However, Yan proved to be the more tactical striker once more and displayed solid takedown defence to secure another unanimous decision victory.
Alexandre Pantoja Reacts To Merab Dvalishvili's UFC 333 Loss
Pantoja knows what it feels like to give everything inside the octagon and still fall short of winning the title. The former flyweight champion has now reacted to Dvalishvili’s UFC 333 defeat.
Reacting to the above Instagram post that praised Merab as “still the champ” despite the disappointing result, "The Cannibal" responded with a few clapping emojis.
"👏👏👏👏"
Check out Alexandre Pantoja's reaction below:
Merab Dvalishvili Still in Upper Echelon in Spite of Skid
Despite two back-to-back setbacks, "The Machine" has nothing to worry about as per the UFC CEO. White and many others in the MMA world have lauded the 35-year-old for putting on another masterclass that for sure will go down in the history books.
Merab Dvalishvili may not win the 135-pound title again. However, while he was champ, he defended his title successfully 3 times in a year and defeated top contenders like Umar Nurmagomedov, Cory Sandhagen, and Sean O'Malley.
Before becoming champ, he cleared out most of the bantamweight division and now, if he wants to chase a second belt by moving up or down, the promotion should/must back the move without hesitation, given his track record and high activity levels.
