In the co-main event of UFC 290, Alexandre Pantoja faced off against Brandon Moreno for the flyweight title. The two fighters had previously faced each other twice, with Alexandre Pantoja winning both fights giving the leg up in this matchup. That certainly did help when he defeated Moreno for a third time and captured the flyweight championship.

The fight was an instant classic, with both fighters putting on a show for the fans in attendance. Alexandre Pantoja was able to land several hard shots early on, but Moreno showed incredible heart and toughness, refusing to go down. The two fighters traded blows back and forth, with neither gaining a clear advantage.

In the later rounds, Alexandre Pantoja began to take control of the fight, using his superior grappling skills to take Moreno down and control him on the ground. Moreno showed excellent defense but was unable to mount any significant offense of his own.

In the end, the judges scored the fight in favor of Alexandre Pantoja, with two judges giving him the nod by a score of 48-47 and 49-46. It was a hard-fought victory for Pantoja and one that solidifies his status as one of the best flyweights in the world and now the flyweight champion. He may be out for a bit due to taking extensive damage in an absolute war with Moreno but let's take a look what could potentially be next for the new flyweight champion.

Brandon Moreno

Fight fans are normally not for immediate rematches especially when these two fought each other three times with Alexandre Pantoja becoming victorious in all three fights. With that said, this seems like the most logical fight for his first title defense because of how evenly matched these two are and what an amazing fight these two put on for the fans. These two deserve to headline their own PPV fight card to show who the best flyweight fighter on planet earth is.

Brandon Royval

Brandon Royval (15-6) is a rising star in the flyweight division and is coming off three straight wins, most recently knocking out Matheus Nicolau in just a little over two minutes into round one. He is a well-rounded fighter with excellent grappling and striking skills and would be a very dangerous fight for the new flyweight champion. We know that Alexandre Pantoja has already beaten Royval once before back in August 2021 but both fighters have made a ton of strides since then and as Saturday showed we should expect a much different fight between these two.

Amir Albazi

Amir Albazi (17-1) fought and beat a former flyweight title contender in Kai Kara-France in his most recent fight and looked fantastic doing it. He was able to hang in there and go punch for punch against a powerful striker in Kara-France and he was also able to utilize his wrestling and grappling to control Kara-France. Albazi is also a high-level Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt like Alexandre Pantoja which would make the scrambles and grappling between these two very exciting to watch. Albazi would certainly be a very tough title defense for Pantoja and one the fight fans would be excited to see happen.