Why Alexandre Pantoja would welcome the championship challenge of teammate Kyoji Horiguchi

When former 125-pound title challenger Kyoji Horiguchi returned to the Octagon last Saturday for the first time in nine years at UFC Fight Night in Qatar, there wasn't anyone happier or more impressed than his teammate, current flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja. 

Horiguchi (35-5, 1 NC), who was 7-1 in UFC from 2013-16, with his only loss coming to flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson, returned last week to dominantly submit No. 11 Tagir Ulanbekov in Round 3. The native of Japan had previously spent the majority of the last decade fighting under the RIZIN banner, where he won titles at flyweight and bantamweight, including victories over Manel Kape, Ian McCall, Darrion Caldwell (twice), Kai Asakura and Sergio Pettis. 

"I think everybody understands when you talk about Kyoji Horiguchi, [who fights at] so much of a high level, they saw his beautiful performance against Tagir, who is a very good fighter," Pantoja told CBS Sports on Monday. 

Pantoja, who returns Dec. 6 to defend his title against Joshua Van in the co-main event of UFC 323 in Las Vegas, has trained for years alongside Horiguchi and former ONE Championship flyweight titleholder Adriano Moraes at American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Florida. In fact, Pantoja has credited much of his late-career resurgence, which includes his current eight-fight win streak, to the blood, sweat and tears he shed alongside Horiguchi in the gym. 

So, when Horiguchi used his post-fight interview after defeating Ulanbekov to call out the UFC flyweight champion by saying, "[Pantoja] is my teammate, but it doesn't matter. I will beat you up," Pantoja was anything but upset. 

From Cain Velasquez-Daniel Cormier and Aljamain Sterling-Merab Dvalishvili to even Tom Aspinall-Ante Delija, recent UFC history has shown many prominent teammates who are both elites in the same division have stood their ground against the idea of fighting one another, even to the chagrin of UFC CEO Dana White.

So, why is the 35-year-old Pantoja any different? 

"I'm here to beat the best fighters in the world," Pantoja said. "I want to face off with the best and, to me, Kyoji Horiguchi is one of the best of the best. I missed Demetrious Johnson (who left UFC in 2018 to join ONE Championship) and, if I had the chance to fight Kyoji, it's going to be a present for me. It's going to be sharing the cake. 

"Kyoji has his own dreams and he helped [me] conquer my dreams. Because I have a teammate like him, I'm cheering every time for Kyoji and it will be a present if I ever get to defend the belt against him." 

Horiguchi returned to the UFC's top 10 rankings this week in the No. 8 spot after defeating Ulanbekov.  

Pantoja, who captured the title at age 33 two years ago at UFC 290, has four title defenses and is quickly climbing the ladder for consideration alongside Johnson (and his UFC-record 11 title defenses) as the greatest flyweights in history. Pantoja has recorded notable 125-pound wins against Brandon Moreno (twice), Brandon Royval (twice), Kape, Matt Schnell, Alex Perez, Steve Erceg, Asakura and Kai Kara-France.