Brandon RoyvalChris Unger/Zuffa LLC
- Demetrious Johnson
- Brandon Moreno
- Brandon Royval
There’s a reason the UFC brought in a champion from another promotion to take on Pantoja. There are a few fresh faces who are on the cusp of a title shot, but the options are mostly limited to some familiar names.
Brandon Moreno stands out as the top option when factoring in realistic possibilities.
The former champion lost his belt to Pantoja, but it was a competitive split decision that he’d like to have back. After scoring a win over rising contender Amir Albazi in November he called out his former rival.
A split decision loss to Brandon Royval back in February is the strongest argument against Moreno getting his rematch. The other Brandon could certainly be next in line, but his other win after beating Moreno was a split decision against Tatsuro Taira.
Ultimately, either Brandon is going to be hard to push in the main event slot. If the UFC wants to continue marketing Pantoja as a main eventer, the only option is the one that Pantoja wants more than anything.
The Brazilian’s reaction to former flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson retiring revealed a desire to see the best flyweight ever.
“Now he retired, and now UFC can contract him again,” Pantoja told MMA Fighting. “The only thing I can think about is that. I don’t know if they can do that.”
Despite Pantoja’s wishes that really feels like a long shot. Johnson was a dominant UFC champion with 11 consecutive defenses, but the UFC traded him to ONE in exchange for Ben Askren back in 2018.
This content was brought to you by: Bleacher Report – Front Page
