Vancouver – Flyweight Bruno Gustavo da Silva (or simply Bruno Silva, not to be confused with Bruno “Blindado” Silva) could have the inside track in Alexandre Pantoja vs. Joshua Van, recently confirmed for UFC 323 in December.
After all, Silva (15-7-2, 1NC) lost to Van last June before returning with a submission of Hyun Sung Park at UFC Vancouver on Saturday. He is also very familiar with fellow Brazilian Pantoja, the long-serving UFC flyweight champion.
“Man, it’s a tough fight, you know? I’ve been training with Pantoja for a while. I just fought Van,” Pantoja told Cageside Press after asking UFC Vancouver about the bout. “Van hits hard, young, comes forward. I think Pantoja will win, but Van has a good chance. The boy is good.”
There has been talk among fans that if Pantoja earns his fifth successful flyweight title defense, a move to bantamweight to take on Merab Dvalishvili for 135 pounds of gold could be in the cards. That might just be fantasy matchmaking, but both fighters come close to clearing the top contenders in their respective weight classes.
“He can do it, even though we know Merab is a different animal. And Pantoja is small, man. He’s not a big flyweight,” Silva said of the suggestion. “If I were him, I’d stay in the flyweight division. He doesn’t want that smoke. Merab is a different animal.”
Watch the full UFC Vancouver post-fight press conference with Bruno Silva above.
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