Alexandre Pantoja Got ‘Aggressive’ With Brandon Moreno At UFC 283 Backstage Altercation
Pantoja has defeated Moreno in the octagon before.
Brandon Moreno’s next opponent confronted him after his win at UFC 283.
Moreno put the final nail in the coffin of his rivalry with Deiveson Figueiredo as the Mexican sensation triumphed in the Brazilian’s own backyard. It was the fourth meeting between the duo inside the octagon.
But as Moreno was celebrating his victory, he was encountered by the new No.1 contender Alexandre Pantoja. The pair seemed to be in good mood initially but soon things escalated as the two had to be separated by security.
Alejandre Pantoja congratulates Brandon Moreno after becoming the undisputed champion. He weighed as an alternate for #UFC283 and seems to be the next in line@ESPNDeportes pic.twitter.com/GG5Pjr9lgC
— Carlos Contreras Legaspi (@CCLegaspi) January 22, 2023
Now, Moreno has come up with details of what went wrong between the two and how a friendly meet-up changed into a hostile linkup.
“He came [at] me and he was very friendly with me, to be honest,” Moreno revealed at the UFC 283 post-fight press conference.
“When everything started, he came to me and said ‘hey man, today I feel so happy for you, congrats for the belt’ whatever and at that point everything was fine.
“Then he started to ask me like ‘when is our fight? In two months? Three months? Tell me right now!’ Like, I don’t know to be honest. Then he started to look a little bit aggressive to be honest but my only point was let me enjoy it today. Give me today. Let me have this moment with my friends, with my training partners, with my wife, with my manager and then we can make [another fight] with the social media and the trash talk, if you want but give me this moment. That was my only point.”
Moreno and Pantoja are no strangers to each other as the two have already met twice in the octagon with the Brazilian getting the better of the Mexican on both occasions.
Pantoja was critical of Moreno’s performance at UFC 283 and feels they will have the same feat if met again in the octagon.
“I want to say I’m not impressed,” Pantoja said on the UFC 283 post-fight show. “Moreno’s good but I [beat] him two times. I’m ready to be next. I want to call him [out]. I will fight with him any place he wants. If he wants to fight in Mexico, whatever the place.”