Alexandre Pantoja

Alexandre Pantoja Passidomo (born April 16, 1990) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the flyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is the current UFC Flyweight Champion. As of December 10, 2024, he is #9 in the UFC men's pound-for-pound rankings.
On May 11, 2016, the UFC announced that the 16 contestants for the season of this TUF would be flyweight champion fighters from various organizations around the world, with the winner being expected to have a chance to fight for the flyweight title against Demetrious Johnson. The cast was announced on July 20. The coaches for the season were the former challengers to the flyweight belt, Joseph Benavidez and Henry Cejudo, and Pantoja was from Team Cejudo.
He was ranked # 1 in Team Cejudo, and made his first fight against # 16 Team Benavidez, Brandon Moreno. The two came to interact within the house, even with Pantoja speaking Portuguese and Brandon Moreno speaking Spanish, the similarity between languages facilitated communication. In the fight, Alexandre Pantoja defeated Brandon Moreno by submission in the second round. With this victory, Pantoja went to the quarterfinals of the reality show.
Pantoja faced fellow team Cejudo member Kai Kara-France in the quarterfinals, defeating him by unanimous decision and progressing through to the semifinals.
Pantoja faced Hiromasa Ougikubo in the semifinals of the tournament and was defeated by unanimous decision, and it was soon announced that he had contracted with the UFC.
Alexandre made his promotional debut on January 28, 2017, at UFC on Fox 23 against Eric Shelton. He won the fight via split decision.
Pantoja faced Neil Seery on July 16, 2017 at UFC Fight Night 113. He won the fight via submission in the third round.
Pantoja faced Dustin Ortiz on January 20, 2018 at UFC 220. He lost the fight by unanimous decision.
Pantoja faced Brandon Moreno on May 19, 2018 at UFC Fight Night 129. He won the fight by unanimous decision.
Pantoja faced Ulka Sasaki on November 17, 2018 at UFC Fight Night 140. He won the fight via rear-naked choke submission in the first round.
Pantoja faced Wilson Reis on April 13, 2019 at UFC 236. He won the fight via TKO in the first round.
Pantoja faced Deiveson Figueiredo on July 27, 2019 at UFC 240. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. This fight earned him the Fight of the Night award.
Pantoja faced Matt Schnell on December 21, 2019 at UFC Fight Night 165. He won the fight via first-round knockout. The win also earned Pantoja his first Performance of the Night bonus award.
Pantoja faced Askar Askarov at UFC Fight Night 172 on July 19, 2020. He lost the fight via unanimous decision.
Pantoja was expected to face promotional newcomer and the former Rizin FF Bantamweight champion Manel Kape on December 19, 2020 at UFC Fight Night 183. However Pantoja pulled out of the fight in early December for undisclosed reasons. The fight eventually took place on February 6, 2021 at UFC Fight Night 184. Pantoja won the fight via unanimous decision.
Pantoja faced Brandon Royval on August 21, 2021 UFC on ESPN 29. He won the fight via rear-naked choke in round two. With this win, Pantoja earned the Performance of the Night award. Pantoja was meant to fight for the UFC flyweight title but a knee injury forced him out of it.
Pantoja faced Alex Perez on July 30, 2022, at UFC 277. He won the fight via a neck crank submission early in the first round. The win also earned Pantoja his third Performance of the Night award.
Pantoja rematched Brandon Moreno on July 8, 2023 at UFC 290 for the UFC Flyweight Championship. Pantoja came out victorious via split decision, winning the bout and the title. This fight earned him the Fight of the Night award.
In his first title defense, Pantoja faced Brandon Royval in a rematch on December 16, 2023, at UFC 296. He successfully defended his title, winning the bout via unanimous decision.
Pantoja faced Steve Erceg on May 4, 2024, at UFC 301. He won and successfully defended his title via unanimous decision.
Pantoja made his third UFC Flyweight Championship title defense against former two-time Rizin Bantamweight Champion and promotional newcomer Kai Asakura on December 7, 2024 at UFC 310. He won the fight via a rear-naked choke submission in the second round. This fight earned him another Performance of the Night award.
Pantoja was reportedly going to make his fourth title defense against Kai Kara-France on April 12, 2025, at UFC 314. However, for unknown reasons, the bout was reportedly moved to June 7, 2025 at UFC 316 but never came to fruition.
Pantoja is married and has two sons. After winning the UFC Flyweight Championship at UFC 290, Pantoja revealed in the post-fight interview that his father had abandoned his family, leaving his mother to raise him and his two brothers alone, and (facing the camera) asked his father if he was proud of him now.
*Date given is the air date of the episode. The actual dates of the fight are not released by the UFC