UFC Champ Alexandre Pantoja Praises Tatsuro Taira, Other Japanese Fighters

Alexandre Pantoja seemingly has his eyes on Tatsuro Taira.

Pantoja is coming off a successful title defense against Steve Erceg at UFC 301 in Brazil this past May. Erceg’s title shot came partly due to a lack of worthy opponents available for the Brazilian champ.

Pantoja already owns a pair of victories over Brandon Moreno and Brandon Royval and with Amir Albazi recovering from neck surgery, Pantoja admits he still doesn’t have a clear challenger for the title. However, he is keen on defending his strap by the end of the year, regardless of the opponent.

“I don’t have like a real opponent right now,” Pantoja recently said on UFC Unfiltered. “I don’t know what’s happening. But I want [to fight] by the end of the year. Doesn’t matter who, I’m gonna be ready.”

While he might not have a clear opponent in mind, Pantoja is seemingly keeping an eye on Tatsuro Taira, who takes on Royval in a five-round UFC Fight Night headliner on Oct. 12 at the Apex in Las Vegas. Along with the undefeated contender, who Pantoja labeled a “real dude,” the flyweight champ feels Japanese fighters are a different breed altogether. In addition to his training partners at the gym, Pantoja also had a special mention for undefeated 22-year-old Japanese prospect Rei Tsuruya, who scored a unanimous decision win over Carlos Hernandez in his promotional debut at UFC 303 this past June.

“I really want to see Taira with Royval. The Japanese [are] tough guys,” Pantoja said. “I have Kyoji Horiguchi in my gym and couple of more Japanese [fighters] coming for American Top Team training here — Motoya, Juntaro [Ushiku]. And these guys are very good, [they] have something in [their] body because all these guys are so strong and they keep pushing. That’s good for me. And I know Taira that guy is a real dude. And we have a young kid, he just make one fight in UFC, I think UFC 303, Rei [Tsuruya] something. New Japanese grappler, this guy is real good too. I appreciate America, we all bring new guys to train with us, we have fresh blood all the time.”