Moreno to defend title vs. Pantoja at UFC 290

UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno will defend his belt in a rematch with Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 290 on July 8 in Las Vegas, UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell told ESPN's Marc Raimondi.

Pantoja, the No. 2-ranked flyweight, is one of two fighters that Moreno has been unable to defeat in the UFC. Pantoja beat him by unanimous decision at a UFC Fight Night event in May 2018, leading to Moreno's surprise release from the UFC.

They had also previously met in an exhibition bout on "The Ultimate Fighter 24" in 2016, with No. 1 seed Pantoja winning their opening-round matchup by second-round submission. Moreno, just 22 years old at the time, was the 16-seed on the show.

Moreno, now 29, recaptured the 125-pound title with a doctor's stoppage TKO win over Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 283 in January. That was the fourth time he and Figueiredo had fought, and Moreno won their head-to-head series by a margin of 2-1-1. He's one of three Mexico natives to win UFC gold this year, with Yair Rodriguez (interim featherweight) and Alexa Grasso (women's flyweight) following in his footsteps.

Pantoja earned his first UFC title shot with three straight wins over Alex Perez, Brandon Royval, and Manel Kape throughout 2021 and 2022. He's unbeaten since July 2020.

UFC 290, the promotion's annual International Fight Week pay-per-view event, will also feature a featherweight title unification bout between Alexander Volkanovski and Rodriguez. That fight is expected to be the main event, and Moreno-Pantoja the co-headliner.