Fight a Brazilian in Brazil, and one thing is for certain: Uh vai morrer.
No, UFC fighters need not be too concerned about their lives when the local fans sing out the Portuguese phrase meaning “you’re gonna die,” but it’s become a staple from crowds backing their own when the promotion visits locales like Rio de Janeiro — where UFC 301 will take place Saturday.
And while a bevy of stars from Brazil have had the intimidating fans at their backs, this will be the first time in the UFC career of Alexandre Pantoja that he will experience the thrill.
“I need that connection,” says Pantoja, the flyweight champion who will make his second title defense at the event, during a recent video call with The Post. “… I’m fighting all across the world. I go to South Korea. I go to Glasgow, [Scotland,]. I fight in Chile, Argentina, Canada, Abu Dhabi. I fight everywhere and never fight in Brazil.”
Pantoja can cross the homecoming off his bucket list with a fight against Steve Erceg, one of the most unlikely UFC title challengers in recent memory.
Erceg was fighting on regional scene in his native Australia a year ago, barely on the radar of most fight fans.
Three wins in three fights later — coupled with a unique mix of Pantoja having twice beaten the top two contenders and injuries and recent losses to other top candidates — and Erceg has a shot at Pantoja’s crown despite being no better than 10th in most notable rankings, including the UFC’s own.
The humble Pantoja insists he’s taking Erceg very seriously, noting that the challengers’ three UFC victories were over impressive competition such as David Dvorak and Matt Schnell, each of whom has been regarded as top-15 competition at 125 pounds.
“He [made] a good, good statement,” Pantoja notes after pointing out the knockout of Schnell in March. “That’s why the UFC is thinking it’s interesting to give him a chance.”
Still, the matchup that serves as the headliner for UFC 301 is unorthodox.
But other than waiting for an injured Amir Albazi to be ready to compete — not an option for the UFC given the lack of available champions to headline a pay-per-view after two consecutive stacked events and the promotion’s preference to have a Brazilian champion atop the billing for locals — the only other realistic option was Muhammad Mokaev, the 23-year-old who has largely shed the prospect label and is ranked ahead of Erceg.
Pantoja acknowledged Mokaev is “gonna be next” but suggested that some “people think he did not deserve” the opportunity after a less-thrilling decision win over Alex Perez the same night Erceg earned Performance of the Night for finishing Schnell.
Regardless, Pantoja clearly is focused solely on holding down his own weight class, which is becoming less common of UFC champions these days.
The four male champions above Pantoja in weight — bantamweight Sean O’Malley, featherweight Ilia Topuria, lightweight Islam Makhachev and welterweight Leon Edwards all have expressed interest in recent months with going up in weight for a second championship.
Not so for Pantoja, who is just thrilled the flyweight division weathered a period of uncertainty years ago about its future in the UFC.
“I never think to go up to the bantamweight [division] because it [doesn’t] make sense for me,” Pantoja said. “I have huge opponents for fighting [at] flyweight.”
That said, it’s O’Malley alone that interests him about possibly fighting at 135 pounds, not because of the pull of more gold but rather some “history” between the two.
As Pantoja tells it, the two sparred about seven years ago for his first UFC fight — O’Malley would not appear on Dana White’s Contender Series until later that year.
Pantoja said he requested the video of their session but was given the cold shoulder, and the two disagree over how that session went.
O’Malley irked Pantoja by claiming to have beaten up a fighter who was going to the UFC, while Pantoja claims to have “smashed him.”
It’s not something Pantoja appears to be hung up on, but it’s enough that O’Malley represents the lone bantamweight fight of interest to him.
“The only thing I can imagine to go to the bantamweight [division] is fighting O’Malley because he said something bad. And what’s nice is because, [seven] years ago, I made my debut in the UFC; he was not in the UFC. And right now, I’m the flyweight champion, he’s the bantamweight champion. That’s good history.
“But, like I said, I have a huge line to fight in the flyweight [division].”
