Alexandre Pantoja recently made headlines again. He’s sticking to his story about outperforming Sean O’Malley in a sparring match.
You can find all the gritty details on Sherdog. It’s quite the tale of rivalry and martial prowess.
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The backstory? Pantoja and O’Malley sparred six years ago. It was right before Pantoja’s big UFC debut. He insists he had the upper hand over “Sugar” in that session.
O’Malley, on the other hand, laughs off that claim. He says he ended it with a liver kick in the first round. Classic counter-narrative.
Fast forward to now, Pantoja’s gearing up to defend his flyweight title. He’s facing Steve Erceg at UFC 301 in Rio. The buzz? It’s electric.
During a chat about possibly moving up to bantamweight, Pantoja threw in a jab about that old sparring session with O’Malley.
He dropped a bombshell too. Henry Cejudo, former champ, apparently told him he’d never see the sparring footage. O’Malley’s holding it hostage.
Pantoja’s not too fussed about moving to 135 pounds. But, squaring off with O’Malley? That’s a different story. He’s got a score to settle.
In a recent spill, Pantoja got candid. “Before I even brought up O’Malley, he was the one talking smack,” he revealed. “And after our spar six years back? He’s been holding onto that footage like a treasure.”
“Asked Cejudo to nudge him for me. But nope, ‘He won’t send it, bro. You smashed him,’ Cejudo said. Guess some things are better left in the past.”
Jumping to bantamweight doesn’t really tickle Pantoja’s fancy. Flyweight’s his domain, after all. But for a chance to silence O’Malley? He’d consider it.
Meanwhile, O’Malley’s been busy too. He just defended his bantamweight title against Marlon Vera at UFC 299. It was a show of dominance, to say the least.