Moreno and Royval are cleaning the division for Pantoja

[Koala]

Pantoja is 12-3 in the UFC, 14-4 including TUF
The four losses are to Dustin Ortiz, Askar Askarov, Ougikubo, and Figgy, three elite wrestlers / grapplers, and Figgy, who might be a top 3 flyweight ever
He has already beaten elite strikers of the division Moreno, Royval, and KKF, sometimes multiple times
The UFC is now matching him with newcomer Asakura, who is a striker, after having fought 2-0 Erceg, also mostly a boxer
On the other side, the best grapplers and wrestlers of the division are handled by Moreno and Royval
Moreno has just beaten Albazi and Royval has just beaten Tatsuro Taira
Before that, Nicolau's rise to title contention has also been stopped by Royval

 

[xhaydenx]

Manlets protecting their manlet king.

 

['Suga Daddy']

I imagine the next title eliminator will have to be Kara France vs Almabayev otherwise where are they going to get a worthy fresh contender

 

[The_Renaissance]

Yeah its mega frustrating. Nobody wants either of them having another title shot. KKF must be next after Asakura you'd imagine, I think they'll keep him on the backburner too and not make him fight again in the meantime.

 

[13Seconds]

Yeah its mega frustrating. Nobody wants either of them having another title shot. KKF must be next after Asakura you'd imagine, I think they'll keep him on the backburner too and not make him fight again in the meantime.

What if Asakura wins? That would open up the division.

 

[flektarn]

It's a shame taira got beat. Nobody really wants to see moreno fight for it again since he's lost 3 times. But on the other hand kkf fighting for it is kind of silly as well considering Moreno beat him twice and just beat albazi who "beat" kkf...but I guess kkf fighting for the title isn't the worst thing in the world.

 

[bobafett]

Yeah, I’m really hoping Asakura pulls it off just to shake the division up a bit

 

[The_Renaissance]

Yeah, I’m really hoping Asakura pulls it off just to shake the division up a bit

Looking at his record, I'm just not seeing it to be honest. Think Pantoja wins handily, probably finishes him.

 

[RockyLockridge]

Before that, Nicolau's rise to title contention has also been stopped by Royval

I really thought Nicolau was going to be a contender now he's cut from the UFC

It's a shame taira got beat. Nobody really wants to see moreno fight for it again since he's lost 3 times. But on the other hand kkf fighting for it is kind of silly as well considering Moreno beat him twice and just beat albazi who "beat" kkf...but I guess kkf fighting for the title isn't the worst thing in the world.

And KKF lost to royval too.

Would have been nice if Kape beat mokaev as well. that would have helped

 

[Dana's Conscience]

Pantoja needs to lose. He's not particularly entertaining, has reached his ceiling, and is champ by virtue of being just a slight degree better than the other guys. FLW needs some sort of spark, and Pantoja ain't it. He's just kind of constipating everything.

 

[DoctorStoppage]

That division sucks badly right now

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

Well it's kind of tough when you have 2 contenders that are a step above all the other contenders. Hopefully KKF gets on that same level and can get a title shot. Moreno is kind of out of luck right now for getting one since the champ beat him twice.

 

[bobafett]

Looking at his record, I'm just not seeing it to be honest. Think Pantoja wins handily, probably finishes him.

You're probably right, but Pantoja seems to be getting hit a good amount lately and Kai can crack, so there’s always hope

 

[Koala]

Well it's kind of tough when you have 2 contenders that are a step above all the other contenders. Hopefully KKF gets on that same level and can get a title shot. Moreno is kind of out of luck right now for getting one since the champ beat him twice.

The difference btw Moreno ranked #2 and Albazi ranked #3 was wild
Albazi might go down to 4 or 5 tomorrow

 

[Pierced7681]

Pantoja needs to lose. He's not particularly entertaining, has reached his ceiling, and is champ by virtue of being just a slight degree better than the other guys. FLW needs some sort of spark, and Pantoja ain't it. He's just kind of constipating everything.

Yea I wish Royval had flatlined him when he had the chance. Royval would be a great champ for flw he’s marketable and has an exciting fight style

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

The difference btw Moreno ranked #2 and Albazi ranked #3 was wild
Albazi might go down to 4 or 5 tomorrow

It's possible, might make sense to put Kai at 3 since he beat Erceg so quickly and Erceg was competitive with Pantoja.

 

[blaseblase]

Well if nobody can beat those guys they probably dont have what it takes to beat Pantoja

 

[JKS]

Yeah, I’m really hoping Asakura pulls it off just to shake the division up a bit

This would be fun!!

 

[CieloLuce]

I think Pantoja cleaned it out. Compare to what we were getting(Figgy vs Moreno), this is not much better.

Let's go Kai!

 

[TheMoa]

I really thought Nicolau was going to be a contender now he's cut from the UFC

He was looking good until the first loss, after that his chin and confidence were gone.

Cejudo should go on a mega diet and go down again, at this point he's just a gatekeeper on Batamweight anyways