Who is the answer to stop Alexander Pantoja?
There is another important flyweight fight featured on the UFC 317 cards. Manel Kape goes one-on-one with Brandon Royval. In an interview with Chael Sonnen, Muhammad Mokaev nominated one of these fighters as the answer that could potentially steal money from Alexandre Pantoja (H/T Mmajunkie).
“I think Manel Kupe is the only one who can defeat Pantoja right now,” Mokayev said.
Mokayev also thinks he knows whether Pantoja has helped him get ahead of the other flyweight divisions. He believes the advantage of Pantoja is that his experience has faced almost every elite 125-pounder gun.
“You know, the flyweight division, the guys were in the division for a long time,” Mokaev said. “I was a Tim Elliott fan. In 2017, I was watching his fight live with Johnson, who was painful. He was the winner of “The Ultimate Fighter.” They then fought Tim Elliott in 2023, so they were in that division for a long time.
“If you start in that department and grow up with them, you read them. You see the fight, you already feel like your neighbor.
When he meets Pantoja in Las Vegas, there will be time to see if Cala France can crush the glass ceiling. Otherwise, the winner of Kape vs. Royval could have tried his hand.
