Alexandre Pantoja will be drawn from Jose Aldo’s celebration book if he defends his title against Steve Arseg at UFC 301.
Pantoja will put the flyweight strap on the line against Erceg in Saturday’s main event at the Farmasi Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In an ideal scenario, Pantoja would hope to knock out Erceg and storm into his home crowd, much like Aldo did with his win over Chad Mendes at UFC 142 in 2012. Aldo’s knee kick with one second left in the first round as he ran into the crowd after knocking out Mendes at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro is forever etched in the promotion’s history.
Pantoja, who had never fought in Brazil during his more than seven-year Ultimate Fighting Championship career, never dreamed of the possibility of reliving that moment. But when the opportunity finally arises, “The Cannibal” believes the stars are perfectly aligned for his return home.
“I hope I like him. [vs.] Chad Mendes.knock him [Steve Erceg]
Come out and run to the crowd,” the UFC flyweight champion told Shakeel Majuli. “You can imagine I was so happy in that moment. You can’t dream about things like that… I never dreamed that this moment would happen. I never fought in Brazil for the UFC. No. And it’s been a year now. [later] return [Brazil] Like a king with a belt. That’s why I feel so happy because everyone feels that. Everyone in my life feels that moment. ”
Aldo is also set to come out of retirement and fulfill his UFC contract to fight up-and-coming Jonathan Martinez on the same card.
Pantoja also expects Brazilian fans to chant “Uh Vai Morrer” (you’re going to die) against their Australian opponents. But Pantoja insisted that Brazilian fans are often emotional but non-violent and meant no harm to Erceg.
The Brazilian crowd was criticized for throwing cans and bottles after Brandon Moreno’s technical knockout win over Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 283 in January 2023. Pantoja downplayed the incident as a one-off, insisting that Moreno had a huge following in Brazil. .
“Woo Vai Moller, Woo Vai Moller! Yeah, people can say that. I like it, I like it. Nobody. [is] I’m going to hurt him,” Pantoja said. “People say bad things about what happened with him. [Brandon] Moreno and Deiveson Figueiredo because [fans threw] Something about Moreno. It’s like the imported beer you know, high-end beer.Brazilians love Moreno and he has a huge fan base [base] There. When I fight Moreno, a lot of Brazilian fans say I lose, “I’m with Moreno, you don’t deserve to lose.” i’m ok.brazil fan [are very
emotional]but it’s not [they are a violent] people. We hug everyone. ”
