Moreno vs Pantoja

Who won Moreno vs Pantoja?

Alexandre Pantoja beat Brandon Moreno by split decision in their 5 round contest during the co-main event of UFC 290, on Saturday 8th July 2023 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The scorecards were announced as 49-46, 47-48, 47-48 in favor of winner Alexandre Pantoja.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 5 rounds in the Flyweight division, which meant the weight limit was 125 pounds (8.9 stone or 56.7 KG).

This contest was for the UFC flyweight championship.

Moreno vs Pantoja stats

Brandon Moreno stepped into the octagon with a record of 21 wins, 6 loses and 2 draws, 5 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 11 by submission.

Alexandre Pantoja made his way to the cage with a record of 25 wins, 5 loses and 0 draws, with 8 of those wins by knock out and 10 by submission.

The stats suggested Pantoja had a slight advantage in power over Moreno, with a 32% knock out percentage over Moreno's 24%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Moreno had an advantage over Pantoja, with a 52% submission rate over Pantoja's 40%.

Brandon Moreno was the younger man by 4 years, at 29 years old.

Moreno had a height advantage of 2 inches over Pantoja. That also extended to a 2-inch reach advantage.

Moreno was arguably the less experienced fighter, having had 1 fewer fights, and made his debut in 2011, 3 year and 9 months later than Pantoja, whose first professional fight was in 2007. He had fought 11 more professional rounds, 81 to Pantoja's 70.

Moreno vs Pantoja form

Moreno had beaten 3 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 2 of them, going to the judges once.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had defeated Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 283 on 21st January 2023 by knockout in the 3rd round in their UFC Flyweight championship fight at Jeunesse Arena, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Previous to that, he had defeated Kai Kara France at UFC 277 on 30th July 2022 by knockout in the 3rd round in their championship fight at Madison Square Garden, New York City, United States.

Going into that contest, he had been beaten by Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 270 on 22nd January 2022 by unanimous decision in their UFC Flyweight championship fight at Honda Center, Anaheim.

Before that, he had beat Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 263 on 12th June 2021 by unanimous decision in the 3rd round in their UFC Flyweight championship fight at Gila River Arena, Glendale.

He had drawn with Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 256 on 12th December 2020 by majority draw in their 5 round contest in their UFC Flyweight championship fight at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

Activity check

Moreno's last 5 fights had come over a period of 2 years, 9 months and 16 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 6 months and 23 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 19 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 3.8 rounds on average.

Pantoja's last 4 fights had come over a period of 3 years, 2 months and 10 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 9 months and 18 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 9 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.3 rounds on average.

What were the odds on Moreno vs Pantoja?

Brandon Moreno was a 53/100 (-190) favourite going into the contest, while Alexandre Pantoja made his way into the ring at 81/50 (+160) with oddsmakers.