Brandon Moreno doubts Alexandre Pantoja got any steam from his callout of Sean O'Malley.
Pantoja (25-5 MMA, 9-3 UFC) defeated Moreno (21-6-2 MMA, 9-3-2 UFC) for the third time at UFC 290 in July, and expressed interest in fighting bantamweight champion O’Malley.
O’Malley and Pantoja argued over a sparring session from 2017, but their spat fizzled out pretty quickly. Moreno would love another shot at Pantoja, and doubts O’Malley would even entertain a fight with the flyweight champion.
“I’m not trying to be disrespectful, but unfortunately for Pantoja, I don’t think anybody cares about that fight,” Moreno told The Schmo. “I think Sean O’Malley has another business in the future with (Aljamain Sterling) or Merab (Dvalishvili) or (Marlon) ‘Chito’ (Vera). So let’s see what UFC decides for us. I’m ready for the rematch if the UFC wants that.”
The likes of Brandon Royval and Amir Albazi await their title shot, but Moreno doesn’t think he’s completely out of the running – even though he’s down 3-0 against Pantoja. Moreno lost his belt to Pantoja in a tightly contested unanimous decision, and has been part of the UFC’s past six flyweight title fights.
“I know Brandon Royval is there,” Moreno said. “He’s doing an amazing job. But I’m just thinking of myself. I think I deserve the opportunity, too. I’ve been working hard and last fight was this close, and I have my own arguments to say I deserve the next fight for the title. But this is the business of the UFC. I’m just a hard worker trying to get extra money for my toys and my family.”
