Alexandre Pantoja Willing To Be A Backup For The TUF 28 Finale
Alexandre Pantoja was last seen in action at UFC Fight Night Buenos Aires, defeating Ulka Sasaki by first round submission.
Joseph Benavidez and Alex Perez are scheduled to meet later this month at the UFC Ultimate Fighter 28 Finale, a bout in which Pantoja is willing to be the backup for.
“If the guy he (Benavidez) is fighting can’t compete, they can call me and I’ll fight him. I respect Joseph’s moment and if he takes this fight, I don’t care if I win or lose, I’d just like to fight him. It could be in his backyard, I know he likes to fight in Las Vegas, that’s where he defeated Cejudo. It was a wrong decision, though, I was there and I thought Cejudo won that fight. I would really like to fight at home, I never did, but I’ll fight anywhere in the world, anytime and against anybody,” Pantoja said to Combate.
The UFC has not named a backup for the fight, but the promotion generally doesn’t name backup fighters for non-title affairs.
Pantoja is also willing to move up a weight class if the UFC decides to eliminate the flyweight division in the future.
“I chose to go to Florida, but I don’t have enough money to bring my family over to live with me. About the weight classes, I’ll fight anyone at any moment. I walked into my last fight thinking only about the win and nothing else. If the division really ends and they ask me to go to bantamweight, I’ll have to. When I got here, my weight was around 138, so I’d be really light for the division, but I’ll do whatever it takes to provide for my family. I’ll fight anyone,” says Pantoja.
UFC Ultimate Fighter 28 Finale takes place on Friday, November 30 from the Pearl Theatre At The Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada with Kamaru Usman and Rafael Dos Anjos headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, which airs live on Fox Sports 1.
