UFC 323’s Alexandre Pantoja shuts down Merab Dvalishvili super fight

Don’t expect Alexandre Pantoja to share the Octagon with Merab Dvalishvili.

Pantoja is one of UFC’s top pound-for-pound fighters currently. He has reigned as the flyweight titleholder since 2023. Pantoja and Dvalishvili will both be featured on the main card of UFC 323 on Dec. 5. Pantoja will put his gold at stake against Joshua Van, while Dvalishvili defends the bantamweight title against Petr Yan in a rematch.

Many have wondered if Pantoja would ever insert himself in the 135-pound title picture if he keeps dominating at flyweight. Speaking to TMZ Sports, Pantoja made it clear he has no plans to go one-on-one with “The Machine” (via MMAMania.com).

“I think Merab is one of the best fighters in the world, you know, 100%. He’s the number three pound-for-pound, maybe number two,” Pantoja said. “Merab is a tough opponent for everybody in his division….It’s not easy to think about going up 10 pounds and thinking you can finish someone like Merab, you know? When you talk about 10 pounds to my division, Flyweight to the Bantamweight, it’s a huge comparison…If you saw Weili Zhang versus Valentina Shevchenko, you can see the difference in size.”

Pantoja didn’t rule out challenging for the bantamweight championship if Sean O’Malley somehow finds his way back to the gold. O’Malley is set to compete on the UFC 324 card against Song Yadong on Jan. 24.

As for Dvalishvili, he will be chasing history at UFC 323. If he defeats Yan, he will set a new record for the most successful title defenses in a single year in UFC history at four. Thus far in 2025, Dvalishvili has defended his gold against Umar Nurmagomedov, O’Malley, and Cory Sandhagen.

Pantoja has made it clear that his main focus is to keep demonstrating his dominance in the 125-pound weight class. Time will tell if Pantoja decides to change his mind.