Outside Source
Alexandre Pantoja was able to benefit from a different perspective at UFC 311.
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The reigning flyweight champion was in Renato “Money” Moicano’s corner for his lightweight title bout against Islam Makhachev at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles on Jan. 18. Even though his teammate lost via first-round submission, Pantoja found it to be a valuable experience.
“As a fighter it’s very important to have the opportunity to see a fight from the trainer’s point of view,” Pantoja told Sherdog.com. “I told ‘Moicano’ that he gave a child a VIP ticket to visit Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory.”
Pantoja also revealed an interesting detail regarding the night American Top Team training partner Arman Tsarukyan had to withdraw from the main event, which resulted in him being replaced by “Moicano” on one day’s notice.
“When I woke up I got a voice message from Parrumpa [coach Marcos da Matta] saying, ‘Call me as soon as you wake up,’” said Pantoja, who initially thought he might be needed as a replacement for the bantamweight title bout in the UFC 311 co-main event.
“The first thing I thought was that Umar [Nurmagomedov] got hurt and UFC needed me to fight Merab [Dvalishvili], but as soon as I talked to Parrumpa I found out that Tsarukyan got hurt and Moicano took his place.”
Pantoja came away impressed by Dvalishvili’s performance in his unanimous decision triumph against Nurmagomedov.
“Merab was perfect. He totally exposed Umar and showed why he is the champion,” Pantoja said.
The UFC flyweight champion is intrigued by the possibility of moving up to 135 pounds in a bid for two-division gold, but it isn’t necessarily a priority.
“That would be amazing for my legacy,” he said. “If the UFC likes that, I will be ready. But the fact is that I still have some challenges in my division.”
Pantoja then revealed that the promotion asked him to return in March. However, he countered with a request to compete the following month.
“UFC asked me to return fight in March, but since I just fought, I asked to fight in April in Miami, where I live,” Pantoja said. “I’m really excited to fight for the first time near home. I hope they can set me up on this card.”
As for the UFC 311 main event, Pantoja believes “Moicano” would have fared better had he been able to have a full camp that focused on Makhachev. “Moicano” was initially slated to face Beneil Dariush on the same card before the last-minute change.
“I have no doubt that ‘Moicano’ would give a different fight to Islam if he had done a camp for the champion. Fighting for the belt is a different pressure,” Pantoja said. ‘Moicano’ was really well prepared, but he had less than 24 hours to adjust his strategy to face the current No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter. And actually, he had hell of a first round.”
Pantoja added that “Moicano” wouldn’t have made the mistake he did in succumbing to his opponent’s brabo choke if his focus had been on Makhachev the entire time.
“Moicano is such a technical BJJ black belt,” Pantoja said. “I have no doubt he knows how to defend that choke, but he just fell in Islam’s trap. All credit to the champion. But I hope that after another sequence of wins, he gets a chance to face the champion again with a complete camp for him.”
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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