Alexandre Pantoja doesn’t want the tall order of moving up to fight Merab Dvalishvili.
Pantoja (30-5) is scheduled to defend his flyweight title against Joshua Van (15-2) at UFC 323 on Saturday in Las Vegas. Having already defended his title thrice so far, Pantoja will essentially have cleaned out the division if he beats Van.
While champions usually consider moving up in such scenarios, Pantoja is wary of the champion at bantamweight. Pantoja considers Dvalishvili among the Top 3 pound-for-pound fighters in the world. “The Cannibal” also notes that a 10-pound difference is huge between the 125-pound and 135-pound divisions.