ABU DHABI – Alexandre Pantoja wants nothing more than to avenge his loss to Deiveson Figueiredo.
Pantoja has won four of his past five, with his lone loss coming by decision to Figueiredo a year ago at UFC 240.
He rebounded with a big first-round knockout win over the streaking Matt Schnell this past December, but the loss to Figueiredo set him back from his title aspirations.
Pantoja (22-4 MMA, 6-2 UFC) will face Askar Askarov (11-0-1 MMA, 1-0-1 UFC) on Saturday at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi looking to cement himself as the No. 1 flyweight contender.
Later that night in the main event, Figueiredo will rematch Joseph Benavidez to crown a new flyweight champion. Figueiredo stopped Benavidez in their first fight at UFC on ESPN+ 27 in February, but could not win the vacant title due to missing weight.
But with both men successfully making weight Friday, there will be a new flyweight champion and Pantoja hopes that Figueiredo is able to get the job done again.
His loss to Figueiredo irks him so much to the point that he’d take a rematch with Figueiredo over a title shot.
“I think after my victory this Saturday, this fight is gonna happen,” Pantoja told MMA Junkie on Thursday. “Everything has its time. Everything is God’s plan. I have a great opponent on Saturday. I’m focused on him and I expect Deiveson to win and bring this belt for Brazil, and I can fight with Deiveson again.
“My last loss to Deiveson, I learned so much and I think about this fight all the days. If you say, ‘Do you want to fight for the belt or do you want to fight Deiveson?,’ I want to fight with Deiveson because I have four losses in my career, but I think this is the only fight I really lost. I learned with Deiveson. It helped put my head better and it’s making me a better fighter now, and I have much more to show Deiveson.”
To hear more from Pantoja, check out the video above.
UFC on ESPN+ 30 takes place at Flash Forum. The night’s main card streams live on ESPN+ following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.
