UFC 220’s prelims continued with a tightly contested grappling match between flyweights Dustin Ortiz and Alexandre Pantoja.
Dustin Ortiz has been a staple in the UFC flyweight division with a 6-5 record dating back to 2013. Ortiz has won two of his last three fights, most recently being a 15 second knockout of Hector Sandoval. The Tennessee native also has wins over Ray Borg and Justin Scoggins.
Alexandre Pantoja was a member of the TUF: Tournament of Champions season, being the RFA champion at the time. Pantoja was the top-ranked flyweight on the cast and went 2-1 with a submission over Brandon Moreno. Since entering the UFC, Pantoja is 2-0, recently submitting veteran Neil Seery.
There was a wild grappling exchange to start the contest. Ortiz had the back of Pantoja and Pantoja was able to work his way to Ortiz’s back. Pantoja established a body triangle and began throwing hard shots at the body of Ortiz. Ortiz was in a very tough spot with four minutes left in the round, but was doing just enough to survive.
Pantoja locked in a face crank that was deep but Ortiz was able to get out of it somehow. Ortiz finally broke out of Ortiz’s control with 30 seconds left in the round and landed a knee to the head of Pantoja. Ortiz got on top and started landing ground and pound to finish round one.
Ortiz started the second round with an aggressive combination and a failed takedown attempt. Ortiz continued to push forward, shooting for a second takedown and coming up short. Third time was a charm for Ortiz as he finally got Pantoja down with around three minutes left.
Pantoja attempted to reverse position but it ended up leading to more control for Ortiz. Pantoja finally worked his way up, got caught by a hard shot, and taken down again. Pantoja nearly reversed position, but Ortiz forced him to his back again to end the round.
Pantoja and Ortiz met in the center of the Octagon and fired away, then Ortiz landed a takedown. Pantoja immediately started scrambling for an armbar, and then worked a nifty reversal to get top position. Pantoja controlled Ortiz along the fence and eventually took his back.
Like the first round, Pantoja established a body triangle with three minutes remaining in the fight. Ortiz turned and bucked Pantoja off his back with 90 seconds remaining. Ortiz was unable to hold Pantoja down long, but got a hold of him shortly after landing knees to the side of Pantoja until time expired.
It was a very close fight, so the final tallies will be interesting.
Dustin Ortiz def. Alexandre Pantoja by Unanimous Decision (29-28 x3)
