Alexandre Pantoja


Alexandre Pantoja Passidomo is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the flyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where he is the former UFC Flyweight Champion. He is considered one of the greatest flyweights of all time. As of December 9, 2025, he is #1 in the UFC flyweight rankings and #9 in the UFC men's pound-for-pound rankings.
Pantoja captured the UFC Flyweight Championship by defeating Brandon Moreno at UFC 290 on July 8, 2023. He successfully defended the title four consecutive times en route to an eight fight win streak. Pantoja holds many UFC records in the flyweight division, including the most wins, most submissions, and most finishes. He is also the first male UFC flyweight to win a title fight at the age of 35 or older.

Early life

Alexandre Pantoja was born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The youngest of three children, his mother, Ester Pantoja, was adopted as a child as her biological parents could not afford to raise her. The surname "Pantoja," inherited from his mother's adoptive family, was taken by Alexandre and, according to him, carried with pride throughout his MMA career.
During his childhood, he experienced difficult moments with his parents' separation, after family conflicts led his father to leave home. Raised primarily by his mother, he was introduced to Brazilian jiu-jitsu at the age of 11 through the influence of his stepfather, Moraes, with whom he began training at the traditional academy of renowned master Osvaldo Alves in Copacabana. At age 12, he moved with his family to Arraial do Cabo, where he started training with boys his own age for the first time, having previously only trained with older athletes.
Despite a promising start in martial arts, his relationship with his stepfather deteriorated due to alcohol-related problems, which led Pantoja to move to Bahia to live with his father. There, he maintained his dedication to jiu-jitsu and began teaching the discipline at just 15 years old, in addition to winning his first state title in the gentle art.
Back in Arraial do Cabo, he participated in a jiu-jitsu championship held in a ring, where he first encountered muay thai. Fascinated by the new martial art, he began training under the guidance of master Helbert Reis, accumulating several victories in the sport. However, due to the lack of financial return in muay thai, often having to pay to compete, he decided to transition to mixed martial arts. His professional MMA debut occurred at the age of 17.

Mixed martial arts career

The Ultimate Fighter: Tournament of Champions

On May 11, 2016, the UFC announced that the 16 contestants for the season of this TUF would be flyweight champion fighters from various organizations around the world, with the winner being expected to have a chance to fight for the flyweight title against Demetrious Johnson. The cast was announced on July 20. The coaches for the season were the former challengers to the flyweight belt, Joseph Benavidez and Henry Cejudo, and Pantoja was from Team Cejudo.
He was ranked # 1 in Team Cejudo, and made his first fight against # 16 Team Benavidez, Brandon Moreno. The two came to interact within the house, even with Pantoja speaking Portuguese and Brandon Moreno speaking Spanish, the similarity between languages facilitated communication. In the fight, Alexandre Pantoja defeated Brandon Moreno by submission in the second round. With this victory, Pantoja went to the quarterfinals of the reality show.
Pantoja faced fellow team Cejudo member Kai Kara-France in the quarterfinals, defeating him by unanimous decision and progressing through to the semifinals.
Pantoja faced Hiromasa Ougikubo in the semifinals of the tournament and was defeated by unanimous decision, and it was soon announced that he had contracted with the UFC.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Alexandre made his promotional debut on January 28, 2017, at UFC on Fox 23 against Eric Shelton. He won the fight via split decision.
Pantoja faced Neil Seery on July 16, 2017 at UFC Fight Night 113. He won the fight via submission in the third round.
Pantoja faced Dustin Ortiz on January 20, 2018 at UFC 220. He lost the fight by unanimous decision.
Pantoja faced Brandon Moreno on May 19, 2018 at UFC Fight Night 129. He won the fight by unanimous decision.
Pantoja faced Ulka Sasaki on November 17, 2018 at UFC Fight Night 140. He won the fight via rear-naked choke submission in the first round.
Pantoja faced Wilson Reis on April 13, 2019 at UFC 236. He won the fight via TKO in the first round.
Pantoja faced Deiveson Figueiredo on July 27, 2019 at UFC 240. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. This fight earned him the Fight of the Night award.
Pantoja faced Matt Schnell on December 21, 2019 at UFC Fight Night 165. He won the fight via first-round knockout. The win also earned Pantoja his first Performance of the Night bonus award.
Pantoja faced Askar Askarov at UFC Fight Night 172 on July 19, 2020. He lost the fight via unanimous decision.
Pantoja was expected to face promotional newcomer and the former Rizin FF Bantamweight champion Manel Kape on December 19, 2020 at UFC Fight Night 183. However, Pantoja pulled out of the fight in early December due to COVID-19 symptoms. The fight eventually took place on February 6, 2021 at UFC Fight Night 184. Pantoja won the fight via unanimous decision.
Pantoja faced Brandon Royval on August 21, 2021 UFC on ESPN 29. He won the fight via rear-naked choke in round two. With this win, Pantoja earned the Performance of the Night award. Pantoja was meant to fight for the UFC flyweight title but a knee injury forced him out of it.
Pantoja faced Alex Perez on July 30, 2022, at UFC 277. He won the fight via a neck crank submission early in the first round. The win also earned Pantoja his third Performance of the Night award.

UFC Flyweight Champion

Pantoja rematched Brandon Moreno on July 8, 2023 at UFC 290 for the UFC Flyweight Championship. Pantoja came out victorious via split decision, winning the bout and the title. This fight earned him the Fight of the Night award.
In his first title defense, Pantoja faced Brandon Royval in a rematch on December 16, 2023, at UFC 296. He successfully defended his title, winning the bout via unanimous decision.
Pantoja faced Steve Erceg on May 4, 2024, at UFC 301. He won and successfully defended his title via unanimous decision.
Pantoja made his third UFC Flyweight Championship title defense against former two-time Rizin Bantamweight Champion and promotional newcomer Kai Asakura on December 7, 2024 at UFC 310. He won the fight via a rear-naked choke submission in the second round. This fight earned him another Performance of the Night award.
Pantoja was reportedly going to make his fourth title defense against Kai Kara-France on April 12, 2025, at UFC 314. However, for unknown reasons, the bout was reportedly moved to June 7, 2025 at UFC 316 but never came to fruition. The bout was rescheduled and took place on June 28, 2025 at UFC 317. Pantoja won the fight via a rear-naked choke submission in the third round. With this victory, Pantoja became the record holder for the most wins, submission victories, and overall finishes in UFC Flyweight division history.
Pantoja attempted to make his fifth title defence against Joshua Van on December 6, 2025 at UFC 323. He lost the championship in the first round via technical knockout due to an arm injury. Alexandre threw a high kick, which was blocked and grabbed by Joshua, who then pushed him down and caused Alexandre to land on his arm, causing an elbow dislocation

Personal life

Pantoja is married and has two sons. After winning the UFC Flyweight Championship at UFC 290, Pantoja revealed in the post-fight interview that his father had abandoned his family, leaving his mother to raise him and his two brothers alone, and asked his father if he was proud of him now.

Championships and accomplishments

  • Ultimate Fighting Championship
  • *UFC Flyweight Championship
  • **Four successful title defenses
  • **Second most title fight wins in UFC Flyweight division history
  • **Oldest fighter in history to win a UFC Flyweight title fight
  • *Fight of the Night
  • *Performance of the Night
  • **Tied for third most Post-Fight bonuses in UFC Flyweight division history
  • *Most wins in UFC Flyweight division history
  • *Most finishes in UFC Flyweight division history
  • *Most submissions in UFC Flyweight division history
  • **Fourth most submission attempts in UFC Flyweight division history
  • *Second longest win streak in UFC Flyweight division history
  • *Fourth most bouts in UFC Flyweight division history
  • *Fourth most takedowns landed in UFC Flyweight division history
  • *Fourth most significant strikes in UFC Flyweight division history
  • **Fifth most total strikes in UFC Flyweight division history
  • *Fourth most total fight time in UFC Flyweight division history
  • *Third most control time in UFC Flyweight division history
  • *Fourth most top position time in UFC Flyweight division history
  • *UFC Honors Awards
  • ** 2023: President's Choice Fight of the Year Nominee
  • *UFC.com Awards
  • ** 2023: Ranked #5 Fighter of the Year & Ranked #2 Fight of the Year vs. Brandon Moreno 2
  • **2024: Ranked #8 Fighter of the Year & Ranked #7 Submission of the Year vs. Kai Asakura
  • Resurrection Fighting Alliance
  • *RFA Flyweight Championship
  • *AXS TV Flyweight Superfight Championship
  • New York Post
  • *2023 Fight of the Year
  • MMA Junkie
  • *2019 July Fight of the Month
  • Combat Press
  • *2023 Fight of the Year
  • World MMA Awards
  • *2024 Nomination – Charles Lewis Fighter of the Year
  • *2024 Nomination – Fight of the Year
  • MMA Fighting
  • *2023 First Team MMA All-Star
  • *2024 First Team MMA All-Star
  • MMA Mania
  • *2023 Fighter of the Year
  • *2024 #4 Ranked Submission of the Year
  • Bleacher Report
  • *2023 #2 Ranked UFC Fight of the Year