Alexandre Pantoja put on an absolutely dominant showcase before tapping out Kai Kara-France in the third round to defend his flyweight title in the UFC 317 co-main event.
The flyweight champion was better on the feet and on the ground but it was his world class Brazilian jiu-jitsu that got the job done after he dragged Kara-France to the canvas and applied a nasty rear-naked choke to secure the submission win. With his arms wrapped tight, Kara-France was grimacing and had no choice but to tap or go to sleep with the fight coming to an end at 1:55 in the third round.
“[Feeling] amazing,” Pantoja said after his latest win. “I love to make this show for everybody. Are you entertained, now? A lot of guys know I go to that position. But I’m still evolving. That’s my fourth title defense. I think I deserve a better ranking pound-for-pound.”
Pantoja barely got a chance to celebrate because new No. 1 contender Joshua Van was immediately brought into the octagon to face off with him after he won a potential Fight of the Year against Brandon Royval just minutes before the co-main event started.
“He’s a great champion but he ain’t never fought Joshua Van,” Van said after shaking hands with Pantoja.
For his part, Pantoja kept smiling and gave Van credit for a job well done to put himself in position to battle for the flyweight championship.
“He deserves to fight for the title next,” Pantoja said about Van.
Before he moves onto his next challenger, Pantoja first had to vanquish Kara-France and he did that in convincing fashion with a lopsided performance from start to finish.
Pantoja came out swinging right away, inviting Kara-France to trade bombs with him on the feet but it was all just a set up to get inside to snatch a takedown. A split second later, Pantoja was already on the back with a body triangle locked on Kara-France where he started to apply his grappling game.
Kara-France managed to scramble free but Pantoja nearly locked on an arm-triangle choke before jumping back on top to maintain control. Pantoja kept applying pressure, peppering Kara-France with punches and knees to the body as his domination continued before nearly landing a rear-naked choke just before the first round ended.
On the feet, Pantoja was patient but punishing as he blasted Kara-France with punches and then really started to hurt him with kicks to the body and legs. That led to another takedown for Pantoja but to his credit, Kara-France defended well and managed to get back to his feet this time around.
Still, Pantoja was landing the more effective strikes including a nasty knee up the middle that clipped Kara-France as he tried to find some way to turn the tables on the champion.
As the third round started, Pantoja closed the distance and dragged Kara-France to the canvas again where he immediately locked up another body triangle. In a blink of an eye, Pantoja found an opening to sink in the rear-naked choke and as much as Kara-France tried to fight the hands, he eventually couldn’t resist any longer and he was forced to tap out.
Pantoja has now successfully defended his title four times and he’ll attempt to go for No. 5 with Van already awaiting him as the next contender in line.
