UFC 317 star Alexandre Pantoja is known for its entry skills, but his peak Reel is not absent from brutal knockouts.
Pantoja becomes the longest reigning active UFC champion when he appears from Saturday's pay-per-view with the flight weight title that is still in his possession.
After Pantoja Brandon Moreno had dethroned on UFC 290 in their memorable five -roundo log, 'The Cannibal' faltered decisions about Brandon Royval and Steve Erceg before he submitted Kai Asakura.
With that, the Brazilian's reign was missing a knockout finish. But the same can absolutely not be said for the UFC career of Pantoja as a whole – something that had guaranteed a brutal night in Asia.
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Alexandre Pantoja has flattened Matt Schnell in UFC Busan War back and forth
After he had broken his three-fighter streak through DeVeson FigueIredo, Pantoja returned to action as part of the second visit of the UFC to South Korea and first to Busan.
'The Cannibal' shared De Kooi with Matt Schnell, whose victory over Jimmy Flick leveled his Octagon Record on 7-7 last April.
The collision of the couple was quickly over, but it was not missing. They exchanged bombs in one of the best rounds of the year, and the finish in the last minute of the opening frame went down as one of the most brutal of the year.
At a certain moment it seemed that Schnell would land the finishing. 'Danger' put Pantoja on wobbly legs after connecting with a left angle during a wild exchange. After he had remained on his feet somehow, the future champion then recovered before he dropped Schnell with a right hand that caused a unique knockout.
The wobbling American first fell to his knees before he planted the canvas and was rejected with a devastating basic attack.
Alexandre Pantoja has not taken a knockout since Sleep Matt Schnell
That result was the most recent knockout from Pantoja five and a half years ago. But that does not mean that the Brazilian has since been void of memorable finishes.
After his sixth behind naked Choke against Brandon Royval, Pantoja quickly walked through Alex Perez on UFC 277 and the American submitted with a horrible standing neck crank in De Ronde.
His only finish since then came in his last fight, when Pantoja Kai Asakura choked in the main event of UFC 310 last December.
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With Kara-France's preference for striking firefights, Pantoja may watch his first KO on Saturday since 2019 at UFC 317.