Welcome back to my series of where I put the champ vs the top 15. Today we have Alexandre Pantoja. #1 joshua van Im a big fan of both guys and I want Josh van to win as much as I like Pantoja. Van is one of the best boxers in mma, he almost only boxes and barely does anything else, at some point he throws a kick or two but not a lot, in his last fight in his FOTY win over royval we saw him use the lead leg side kick very well stopping royvals movement. Pantoja loves going forward so this could be very useful vs Pantoja. Pantoja is the way more experienced guy and we haven’t seen Van on the ground yet, he’s shown very good TDD but this is Pantoja. Pantoja is ruthless with decent striking, insane chin and elite grappling. I’m not sure how Van does here I think hes got a chance and as much as I want him to win I think Pantoja is to much for him. Result: Pantoja (UD) 49-46X2, 48-47 #2 Brandon Moreno Now we’ve seen this 3 times and Pantoja is 3-0. Moreno is very good and it will be a close fight just like the last one. However I think Pantoja is to good for him. He’ll control Brandon on the ground more than the first fight, he’ll be a better striker have more cardio control. Brandon will hurt him and defend the grappling well but that isn’t enough. Result: Pantoja (UD) 48-47X2, 49-46 #3 Brandon royval We’ve seen this 2 times and Pantoja is 2-0. Royval is very good despite his recent loss to Josh Van. Royval has good grappling and TDD but he’s a striker, he uses his length and is dangerous with knees which is a threat to pantoja’s takedowns. Despite that I think Pantoja will be better than the most recent one and royval got controlled by taira for 2 rounds, now Taira is elite but Pantoja is even better. Result: Pantoja (UD) 50-45X2, 49-46 #4 Amir Albazi This is an interesting one. Amir is a very good grappler with underrated striking. However he hasn’t got the best striking defence and he can go backwards a bit to much. I think this is closer than people think but amir just isn’t active enough on the feet. Result: Pantoja (UD) 48-47X2, 49-46 #5 tatsuro taira This will be a fight we most likely see at some point. Taira is an elite grappler and his striking looks very improved. Pantoja and Taira can probably match eachothers grappling and on the feet. The difference is experience and cardio, Pantoja can push 5 hard when it matters the most, can taira do that? I’m not sure. It’s a super close fight but I think Pantoja edges it. Result: Pantoja (SD) 48-47, 47-48, 48-47 #6 Kai Kara France We just saw this fight and it was Pantoja domination, Pantoja does it even faster this time. Result: Pantoja round 2 submission #7 Manel kape This happened in Manels ufc debut and he lost but that was back then. Manel has very good TDD, is insanely fast even for a flyweight. He’s got very good striking as well. Pantoja will push the pace and exchange with kape and not let him use distance. Result: Pantoja (UD) 48-47X3 #8 Alex Perez This happened once before and it was the fight that got Pantoja the title shot. He got a round 2 submission win. Perez has good boxing and will try to go forward but Pantoja will time a takedown take him down and find a finish. Result: Pantoja round 1 submission. #9 asu almabaev Almabaev is an elite grappler with strong wrestling and good BJJ. His striking has gotten better. Pantoja is the more experienced guy, better BJJ and finishing skills. Manel kape proved it’s possible to push almabaev back which Pantoja will be looking to do. Almabaev is very good but Pantoja is just better everywhere. Pantoja uses experience and IQ to take this one. Result: Pantoja (UD) 49-46X3 #10 Steve Erceg We’ve seen this one before, Erceg made it very tough for Pantoja with his own high level grappling, scrambles and striking. Pantoja relied to much on his grappling that’s what made it so close. I think Erceg gives him a tough fight again but Pantoja makes changes and fights smarter. Result: Pantoja (UD) 49-46X2, 48-47 #11 Tim Elliott Veteran Tim Elliott is super unorthodox with a good ground game. Pantoja is better on the feet and even tho Elliot could land a few good shots in wild exchanges that won’t do anything. Pantoja is better everywhere and this is an easy fight for him. Result: Pantoja round 2 submission. #12 Tagir ulanbekov From the Khabib team, Ulanbekov is expectedly a strong wrestler and has decent striking using his long range weapons and a strong clinch. We did however see that in his last fight he got taken down and out wrestled. He’s not better than Pantoja anywhere really, he’d make it tough for Pantoja to finish him and he’d give him a close fight in the early rounds, but Pantoja is to experienced. Result: Pantoja (UD) 48-47X2, 48-46 #13 Ramazan temirov Temirov is a strong wrestler. He’s never fought a Pantoja tho. Pantoja beats him in every aspect of the game and he puts a pace on him. Result: Pantoja round 4 submission #14 Bruno silva Yeah… Pantoja runs through him. Silva is well rounded but he isn’t on pantojas level. Silva is tough but Pantoja takes him down and mauls him. Result: Pantoja round 2 submission #15 Kai Asakura We’ve seen it once, the same would happen again. Pantoja wouldn’t even stand as much with Kai as the first time, he’d secure an early takedown, try and find a submission, eventually he’d find it. Result: Pantoja round 1 submission.