Alexandre Pantoja 'More Connected' to Leon Edwards Than Ex-Teammate Covington

Alexandre Pantoja doesn’t have a high opinion of former American Top Team training partner Colby Covington.

Covington will challenge Leon Edwards for the welterweight crown in the UFC 296 main event, while Pantoja will defend his flyweight strap against Brandon Royval in the evening’s co-headliner on Dec. 16 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Pantoja recently revealed on MMAFighting’s Trocação Franca podcast that he wants to have nothing to do with Covington during fight week and would rather like to meet Edwards, whose story he relates to and respects.

“I don’t care,” Pantoja said. “I was born in Copacabana and we are disgusting towards everybody [laughs]. There’s an artist right next to you…