Pantoja says he could fight at UFC 327 and offers himself as a reserve: 'If they called me now'

Alexandre pantoja got injured in UFC 323Photo: UFC Eurasia

Alexandre pantoja He may have lost the opportunity to reclaim his belt sooner than he imagined. The Brazilian lost his flyweight (up to 56,7 kg) title when he... injure against Joshua Van No. UFC 323 and was called upon to face the rematch in UFC 327, scheduled for April 11th. However, he believed he wouldn't be recovered in time, which he now considers a mistake.

In an interview with Ariel Helwani, Pantoja revealed that he was contacted by the UFC at the end of January to assess the possibility of a return at the April event. At the time, the fighter understood that he would need more recovery time and indicated that he would only be ready around June.

As the weeks passed, however, the scenario changed. Between the end of February and the beginning of March, the Brazilian stated that he felt ready to return to the octagon and admitted that he could have accepted the fight if he had been called upon again, even as a last-minute replacement.

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“The UFC asked me about the fight, you know, but as far as I remember that was at the end of January, and at that point, it was like two months ago. I said no, like, maybe I could fight in June, you know. But after that, a month later, at the end of February, beginning of March, I think I was ready to fight. If someone called me, maybe I would be ready to fight in Miami… If the guys called me now and said someone dropped out… yeah. Maybe I would say I’m in,” said Alexander Pantoja.

Despite this, Pantoja adopted a resigned tone regarding the situation. The former champion emphasized that he continues to follow the division and sees the duel as a legitimate opportunity for... Joshua Van To prove his worth as a champion. In the Brazilian's assessment, the fight represents a real title fight, since he himself never had the chance to defend it inside the octagon.

“But it’s okay, you know, I can… I like watching the fights. I think this fight is Joshua’s real chance to prove he’s the world champion, you know. This is the real fight for the belt, because there hasn’t been a fight with me,” concluded the former UFC champion.

Joshua Van defends his title against Tatsuro Taira.

Without Alexandre Panoja's rematch against Joshua VanThe UFC decided to move forward and put the next in line in the title fight. Therefore, the representative from Myanmar will face off against... Tatsuro Taira in the co-main event fight while Jiri Prochazka e Carlos Ulberg to face off for the light heavyweight title (up to 93kg) in the main event.