UFC flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja doesn’t see too many options for his next title defense.
Pantoja (29-5 MMA, 13-3 UFC) surprisingly called out Demetrious Johnson after retaining his belt with a second-round submission of newcomer Kai Asakura this past Saturday at UFC 310, but Johnson isn’t interested in coming out of retirement.
A willing and eager contender is Kai Kara-France (24-11 MMA, 7-4 UFC), who snapped his two-fight losing skid with a first-round TKO of Steve Erceg at UFC 305. Despite Kara-France having lost two of his past three fights, Pantoja doesn’t see a better candidate at 125 pounds.
Pantoja already has a win over Kara-France, but it came in an exhibition bout during Season 24 of “The Ultimate Fighter.” He admits that both fighters have grown since then.
“I’m differentt, he’s different,” Pantoja said of Kara-France on “The Ariel Helwani Show.” “Oh yeah (I’m interested). For now, that’s the fight that most makes sense. In the last three fights, he’s lost twice. But for now, after what I’ve done to my division, everything doesn’t make sense anymore.
“I fight the No. 1, No. 2, top 10, then you bring in someone from somewhere else. I think everybody has a chance right now. Very nice fight. Yeah, Kai Kara-France is a very exciting fight. That’s the someone that’s going to bring me to another level.”
Pantoja is also open to testing his grappling against undefeated Muhammad Mokaev, who recently parted ways with the UFC. Deiveson Figueiredo, who beat Pantoja in July 2019, expressed interest in dropping back down to 125 pounds to fight him.
However, with Kara-France being the only active flyweight out of the three options, that’s who the champion thinks makes sense the most for him next.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 310.
