Former UFC flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja’s title reign came to an abrupt halt after he suffered an injury just seconds into his fight with Joshua Van at UFC 323. When Pantoja tried to brace himself after a brief exchange, he suffered a freak arm injury, and the fight was immediately waved off by referee Herb Dean.
Once Pantoja is medically cleared to return to the Octagon, UFC matchmakers will likely book an immediate rematch with new champion Van.
When Pantoja left the Octagon without the UFC flyweight title, former UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz raised eyebrows with his immediate response. In a tweet that made noise XCruz questioned Dean’s stoppage, stating that Pantoja should have been given the opportunity to continue fighting despite the ailment.
Cruz’s tweet attracted widespread attention on social media, with fans and pundits both supporting and criticizing his views. Weeks away from UFC 323, Cruz has expanded his position.
Dominick Cruz defends viral tweet about Alexandre Pantoja’s injury at UFC 323
In a recent episode of the Love and war podcast, Cruz explained his viral tweet about Pantoja’s injury at UFC 323.
“I think the reason why this tweet got picked up is because it probably sounds a little crazy,” Cruz said. “But as a fighter, I watched that fight and I saw someone shaking his head when it was stopped. It’s like he looked at the referee, here you see he falls, boom, he shakes his head and says, ‘No.’ …and he says, ‘It’s going well, it’s going well.’ Do you see him say that?
“I’m not saying he’s fine, by the way. He could be completely confused. At this point, for all I know, he could be saying, ‘Yeah, freak accident. That shouldn’t have happened. He could just be disappointed that it’s over, that it’s stopped, but the way I see it, it’s like, ‘I’m fine. I’m fine.'” (h/t MMA fighting)
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