In the UFC 290 co-main event, UFC Flyweight Champion Brandon Moreno will hope to cement his place atop the Flyweight division by defending his title against Alexandre Pantoja, who has beaten him twice previously. Read our preview of the UFC 290 co-main event below.

Read our review of one of the greatest fight cards of all time, UFC 290, here.

The Road To Moreno vs. Pantoja On TUF

Moreno and Pantoja met for the first time in an exhibition bout on The Ultimate Fighter Season 24: Tournament of Champions in 2016 when they fought in the opening round of the season. Moreno entered TUF 24 with an experienced record of 11-3-0, including being the World Fighting Federation Flyweight Champion, but was the lowest seed in the tournament.

On the other hand, Pantoja entered the season as the #1 seed and favourite to win the tournament. Pantoja already had a record of 16-2-0, including being the RFA Flyweight Champion and AXS TV Flyweight Superfight Champion, and many believed he should have already been in the UFC. Pantoja proved his skill in the opening round bout against Moreno, winning via a rear-naked choke submission in the second round.

Read our preview of the UFC 290: Volkanovski vs. Rodriguez main event here.

The Road to Moreno vs. Pantoja In The UFC

Following a tough loss in the opening round of TUF 31, Moreno made an unusual short-notice UFC debut while the season of TUF was still airing, submitting the experienced Louis Smolka in the first round to cement his spot on the UFC roster. He then secured a split decision victory over Ryan Benoit and a second-round rear-naked choke of Dustin Ortiz, proving he was far better than his TUF 24 #16 seeding. However, he lost a decision to Sergio Pettis in his next bout in his first UFC main event, setting up the rematch and first official bout with Pantoja.

After beating Moreno, Pantoja moved on in the season to beat future UFC contender Kai Kara-France before losing to Hiromasa Ougikubo in the semi-finals. He made his UFC debut a few months after the Season Finale, securing a split-decision victory over Eric Shelton. Pantoja backed that up with a third-round submission of Neil Seery before losing a decision to Dustin Ortiz, leading to the Moreno rematch.

The second bout between the two men occurred in 2018, with Pantoja again coming out victorious. The bout was longer this time, with Pantoja and Moreno exchanging blows over three rounds, but Pantoja was the clear winner again. The two men’s careers went down completely different paths following that bout.

Find all the results from UFC 290: Alexander Volkanovski vs. Yair Rodriguez here.

The Road to UFC 290

After that loss, Moreno was surprisingly cut from the UFC roster, which may have ended up being the best thing possible for his career. After taking some time off, Moreno returned to the sport, winning the LFA Flyweight Championship to earn his spot back in the UFC. Moreno never looked back, putting together a four-fight undefeated streak and taking Deiveson Figueiredo to a majority draw in a Championship bout that many gave Moreno little chance of winning.

Read our preview of the UFC 290: Volkanovski vs. Rodriguez main event here.

He then shocked the world again, submitting Figueiredo in the third round of their rematch to claim the UFC Flyweight Championship before dropping the title in their trilogy bout. Instead of waiting on the sidelines, Moreno fought for the interim belt against Kai Kara-France, knocking him out in the third round with a liver kick to earn another shot at Figueiredo. In their historic quadrilogy bout in January at UFC 283, Moreno put on the best performance of his career, finishing Figueiredo via a Doctor’s stoppage to reclaim the undisputed title and establish his place as the new Flyweight King.

Pantoja continued to succeed in the UFC following his win over Moreno before trading wins and losses against tough competition. His only other UFC losses came against former Champion Figueiredo and Askar Askarov. Following his loss to Askarov, Pantoja seemingly entered career-best form with wins over Manel Kape, Brandon Royval, and Alex Perez to earn his first UFC title shot. Living up to his potential, Pantoja has become a dangerous finisher with six finishes in the UFC Flyweight division.

Entering UFC 290, Pantoja and Moreno are finally in the primes of their careers, with both men being completely different fighters from when they competed five years ago. Moreno’s game has come leaps and bounds in those five years, becoming a near-perfect fighter in every department. Pantoja has always been highly touted as a prospect, but he has truly lived up to his potential in his last three bouts.

MMA math never works, and even with Pantoja having previously beaten Moreno twice, there is little way to confidently determine how the UFC 290 co-main event will go. What we do know is that Moreno and Pantoja will bring the fire, and we are in store for a brilliant fight.

Find all the results from UFC 290: Alexander Volkanovski vs. Yair Rodriguez here.