Aljamain Sterling believes that Alexandre Pantoja 's injury ultimately harmed Merab Dvalishvili in the main event of UFC 323. The Brazilian suffered an arm injury 26 seconds into the fight and lost the flyweight title (up to 56,7 kg) to Joshua Van . According to the Jamaican, the incident directly interfered with the preparation of his training partner, who entered the octagon next and also ended up defeated.
In a video posted to his YouTube channel, Sterling explained that, during Pantoja's fight, the team had already planned to begin warming up for Merab as soon as the bout ended. However, the Brazilian's dislocated elbow surprised everyone and disrupted the training rhythm, affecting the team's mood and focus.
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“During the fight against Moreno, we were thinking, ‘As soon as this fight is over, we’ll start preparing.’ We started warming up and then Pantoja dislocated his elbow, which was a big surprise during our warm-up,” said Aljamain Sterling.
Alexandre Pantoja and Merab Dvalishvili lost their belts at UFC 323.
UFC 323, held last Saturday (6), did not bring good results for the champions. In the co-main event, Alexandre Pantoja lasted only 26 seconds before injuring his elbow and losing the title to Joshua Van . In the main event, Merab Dvalishvili faced Petr Yan for the second time and, unlike the first encounter, the Georgian was unable to impose his game and was defeated by the Russian by unanimous decision of the judges after five rounds.
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