Alexandre Pantoja would have fought Sean O’Malley at 135 pounds “but with Merab it’s different” | BJPenn.com

Alexandre Pantoja would have been open to attempting to become a two-division UFC champion if Sean O’Malley held bantamweight gold, but the current 135-pound titleholder is giving him some pause. That fighter in question is Merab Dvalishvili, who defeated the aforementioned O’Malley twice. The Georgian will also defend his title on the same night as Pantoja.

The Brazilian standout will look to retain his flyweight crown against rising Joshua Van, while Dvalishvili will defend his bantamweight title against former UFC 135-pound king Petr Yan in a rematch for UFC 323 on December 6.

Speak with TMZ Sports ahead of his next championship test as 125-pound champion, with a clip from the interview posted X account @RedCorner_MMAsaid Pantoja,

“When you talk about ten pounds, for my division, to jump up to bantamweight, that’s huge in comparison. When you see Weili Zhang versus Valentina [Shevchenko]you can see the difference in the size. Of course, if you have Islam Makhachev, go from 155 to 170, yeah, you can see it’s not too much of a difference. Of course, Islam has to lose a lot of weight to reach 155.”

“But ten pounds for me is a lot more than other guys. But Merab, one of the best, one pound for pound [top fighters]. I think if O’Malley gets the belt I’m going to say, hey, I’m ready to go, but with Merab it’s different… Maybe if he [Merab] If I want to get to 125, that will be better for me.”

Alexandre Pantoja and Merab Dvalishvili both enter as heavy favorites for UFC 323

Alexandre Pantoja and Merab Dvalishvili have asserted their dominance as champions in their respective weight categories, which is reflected in the oddsmaker perceptions heading into this weekend.

In what may be the promotion’s last ever pay-per-view as they enter the 2026 Paramount deal, Dvalishvili comes in at -500 to Yan’s +300.

For Pantoja, he will enter this defense against Van as the fighter of choice, with Pantoja coming in at -265 and both UFC 323 lines coming from Fanduel.