UFC 310 Headliner Alexandre Pantoja Brushes Off Idea of Sean O’Malley Fight

Alexandre Pantoja doesn't think he'll be moving to bantamweight now that Sean O'Malley is no longer the champion.

Jason Silva-Imagn Images

Alexandre Pantoja thinks the ship has sailed on a fight with Sean O'Malley.

A division apart from each other, the UFC Flyweight Champion has long wanted to settle the score with O'Malley after their infamous sparring session in 2017. "Suga" claims he made Pantoja quit with strikes, while Pantoja argued he had O'Malley beat in the sparring rounds that followed.

Fast forward seven years later and Pantoja and O'Malley reigned as champions in neighboring weight classes, but the potential super fight got away from them as O'Malley lost the bantamweight title in his last fight against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306.

UFC Champion Alexandre Pantoja. / Jason Silva-Imagn Images

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Pantoja Rules Out Bantamweight Move Now That It's 'Suga'-Free

Pantoja is still the reigning, defending flyweight champion, looking to notch his third-straight title defense against Kai Asakura at UFC 310 this weekend. "The Cannibal" has been open to a bantamweight move before, but not so much anymore.

"The only time I felt I could challenge for the bantamweight belt was when Sean O'Malley was the champ, but no one thinks about that guy right now," Pantoja said in an interview with Stake.

"We do have a history because he beat me in the gym and posted the video and spoke a lot, and I want to prove that I can beat him in the Octagon."

UFC's Sean O'Malley. / Craig Kidwell-Imagn Images

Future At Flyweight

With a fight against Sean O'Malley possibly lost forever now that he's no longer the champion, Pantoja is happy to stay in the UFC flyweight division and fend off contender after contender there.

"Right now, I have a huge division to take care of. I have a lot of good names to fight such as Kai Kara-France and Brandon Moreno," Pantoja said.

"In front of me, I am fighting Kai Asakura, who was the best in Japan and a champion in RIZIN. That is huge for me. UFC went and brought another champion from a different promotion and that's why the fans want to watch this fight. The UFC can do this because everybody wants to be the star in the UFC, that's how you prove you are the best in the world by becoming a champion here."

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— UFC (@ufc) December 2, 2024

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