Flyweight champion Brandon Moreno set to defend title against long-time rival

Brandon Moreno will defend his title at UFC 290 in July. Photo: USA Today Sports

Mexican flyweight champion Brandon Moreno will finally get a chance to get revenge on Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 290.

The title fight is set to take place on July 8 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Freak MMA was first to report the matchup and UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell later confirmed the news with ESPN.

The pair clashed twice, first on Season 24 of The Ultimate Fighter, with Moreno losing via a second-round submission.

In 2018 the rivals clashed again at a UFC Fight Night in Chile, when Pantoja beat Moreno by unanimous decision. The defeat led to Moreno getting released by the promotion, but after winning the LFA flyweight title, he was back in the UFC in 2019.

Read more: Legendary MMA fighters that retired in 2023: UFC champs and a all-time Great!

Brandon Moreno won the flyweight title

If Brandon Moreno was struggling in his first UFC stint, he had plenty of success in his second run.

He dethroned champion Deiveson Figueiredo to become flyweight champion at UFC 263. Figueiredo regained the belt in their trilogy bout at UFC 270, but at UFC 283 in January 2023, ”The Assassin Baby” reclaimed the strap via doctor’s stoppage TKO.

Pantoja rides a three-fight winning streak and comes from a first-round submission of former title challenger Alex Perez in July last year.

Also set for UFC 280 is a featherweight title fight between champion Alexander Volkanovski and interim featherweight champion Yair Rodriguez.

Read more: UFC president admits: “We’re making a lot of mistakes right now”

Read more: BREAKING: Jake Paul to face Nate Diaz: ” I haven’t forgotten about the slap”

Subscribe to Frontkick.online on YouTube for the best MMA and Muay Thai videos in Scandinavia, make sure to follow us on Instagram for the latest news and updates!