Stream UFC 301 on ESPN+ https://plus.espn.com/ufc/ppv ESPN MMA’s Carlos Contreras Legaspi interviews flyweight title …
Carlos contal gaspi for ESPN from Rio de Janeiro where Steve a will be challenging for the Flyway title this Saturday Alexandre Pantoja Steve tell me about this last couple of weeks this crazy year because you’ve been 11 months in the UFC and now you’re fighting for the title yeah it’s been a whirlwind um yeah got a short not notice opportunity against top 10 guy and obviously that propelled me into a title picture a lot quicker than expected but I’ve been working for a long time I’ve dedicated a lot to this Sport and I’m yeah more than prepared and yeah the last few weeks been amazing re has been great um I feel climatized and yeah nothing’s going to stand in my way of uh being pant on Saturday night I remember your first fight in in was in vancour right June last year a lot of people knew that you were a really good Prospect so some of the people watch your fights in Australia but uh did anything surprise you when you got here when you got to the UFC that first fight then the fight in New York then the the Snell fight um from yourself I mean that from your own abilities nothing really surprised me the level was obviously higher than um I’d been used to and so just tightening a few things up uh more high percentage lowrisk um attacks rather than diving on every submission I see um I think was important but nothing surprised me I think at the end of the day fighting is fighting I’ve done it for a long time and um yeah I’m prepared to do that how much time do you have to study Alexander he was uh he became champion last summer I guess you you get a chance to see him what uh what do you see is it something new that you saw like while reviewing video while starting for this fight yeah I mean I’ve been watching for him for a long time um before he was a champ but I mean I think the biggest thing is on the feet um I have the biggest Advantage he’s going to walk in a little bit recklessly and he gets away with it because his Chin’s so good and his grappling is so good so I think I can walk him onto shots and um I’ll be trying to get him out there but if not we’ll go five rounds and I think I’ll get the get the nod he has shown that in the morena fight in the Royal fight that he likes to exchange like he likes to take a shot so he can counter he can uh go go and hit you so um that that just said like you you have your shots you’re PR precise like you you like to clean shots and um on the ground like I don’t think we have seen what you can do in your your Jiu-Jitsu we know him like he’s he’s good uh great duu but you think that you can surprise him in that u in that area also yeah definitely one of my best attributes I think is my scrambling ability and he obviously is also a great Scrambler I think that um I can neutralize his strengths on the ground and if I get on top of somebody I’m a problem for anybody so um yeah I’m fully confident that if it does go to the ground I have all the skills in the world to win that too per is now a place where we’ve seen a lot of cards like and it’s going to be there for for the next couple of years is going to be uh there uh in in August so how was the reaction for for from the people in your hometown like hearing that you were going to fight for the Bel yeah everybody’s super pumped up at the moment there’s like um especially the people around me like there’s a definite energy that’s going on at the moment and I’ve had so many people reach out and so much support coming in everybody’s super excited for this fight and um yeah I can’t wait to not only do this for me but for do this to I do this for all my Australian supporters and fans it’s not many at the five weights get uh the main event in in a pay-per-view how have you been living this how how was the reaction of of the people social media because you the social media probably has grown is going to be growing a lot more this week how you been uh receiving that how you been living this this being the main event in a pay-per-view yeah there’s a lot more comments and a lot more um notice on my post and posts about me I guess and I’m doing my best not to read the comments um because yeah previously most of the people that follow me they’re supporters of mine so a lot of positive feedback and now I’m going to get a lot of haters and honestly people that are too on board Steve as well and they like give me too many compliments so um I need to uh keep all that away focus on myself and my team and what I can do and um yeah don’t let don’t let the extra media attention sway me in any way but you seem to be enjoying like the comparions comparation like to Michael Scott yeah Michael SC and and and all that you’re doing you’re you’re doing your your part on your on your own social media right yeah for sure and I think uh I think it’s funny I like to have have a laugh and make fun uh like have a laugh at my own expense so um yeah I’m happy to roll with it and uh if people like it that’s that’s awesome uh seeing in your uh own Instagram account uh almost a year ago your your fight was cancelled so this is like you were having a bad Stak of cancellations and fights following know so uh I mean what you think like looking back one year ago that fight fell then you had the chance to fight someone else in the UFC debut third fight now you’re fighting for the Bel yeah it’s been a whirlwind and yeah I’ve had a lot of pullouts and a lot of canceled fights and canceled cards in in the past and I think that just helped create the person I am today the person that’s always in the gym takes any opportunity that’s given to him because you never know when the next one’s going to come so um it’s yeah it’s been completely real to be in the UFC for less than a year and get a shot and um yeah I’m excited for the opportunities to come what do you expect from the atmosphere obviously the crowd here in Roo it’s uh is well known by supporting their their fighter so what you expect from the crowd obviously Alexander is going to be the the local her what you expect on Saturday yeah they’re not going to be very fond of me that’s for sure they’re going to be yelling AMA hair um as I walk in which is like you’re going to die and all that sort of stuff and uh the the actual event itself I think they’re going to be very excited cuz it’s going to be a good fight but at the end they’ll be disappointed because I’ll be the one with my hand raised and not not uh P if if you manage to win this fight to get the belt the perent has been announced I mean I guess you will be loving to fight there even if even if you don’t go out as as a champion now that you’ve been a challenger your name is going to be a lot bigger yeah 100% I want to put on a show for yeah all the people in Perth that have supported me for a long time and bring an event to them so would be uh nothing would give me greater Pride than the fight in front of my hometown well Sten uh we have a great fight on Saturday and um Good Luck thank you very much [Applause] [Music]