{"id":38245,"date":"2026-05-14T21:51:55","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T21:51:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sherdog.com\/news\/news\/Top-coach-suggests-Alexandre-Pantoja-healed-ready-for-negotiation-201186"},"modified":"2026-05-14T21:51:55","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T21:51:55","slug":"top-coach-suggests-alexandre-pantoja-healed-ready-for-negotiation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/top-coach-suggests-alexandre-pantoja-healed-ready-for-negotiation\/","title":{"rendered":"Top coach suggests Alexandre Pantoja healed, ready for negotiation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
<\/div>\n

Having worked with so many
\nUltimate Fighting Championship<\/a> fighters before, coach Marcos da
\nMatta<\/a> firmly has his finger on the pulse of the sport.<\/p>\n

After injuring his arm and losing his belt to Joshua Van<\/a>,
\nAlexandre
\nPantoja<\/a> became one of the most interested men watching the
\nco-main event of UFC 328. Not surprisingly, the Brazilian and his
\ncoach \u201cParrumpa\u201d da Matta watched the event from the front row. Da
\nMatta spoke with Sherdog about the future of his athlete, the
\nsuccesses of a newly minted champion and a whether being a backup
\nfighter is a good idea.<\/p>\n

\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI particularly wanted Van to win because I really wanted this
\nrematch,\u201d explained to Sherdog.<\/p>\n

In the opinion of the American Top Team coach, Van vs. Tatsuro
\nTaira<\/a> provided excellent material for study.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were able to see a lot in these almost five rounds,\u201d the coach
\nanalyzed. \u201cBoth exposed themselves a lot, showing both strengths
\nand weaknesses. I liked what I saw.\u201d<\/p>\n

Waiting in the wings, Pantoja is already fully recovered and is now
\njust waiting for the UFC to schedule the rematch.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis arm is already 100%, but he still wouldn\u2019t be 100% to fight
\nnext week, for example. We need some time to do a championship
\ncamp, and I believe that fight will happen around August or
\nSeptember. Now it depends more on the UFC and Joshua Van<\/a>
\nthan on Pantoja,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n

Flowers for Strickland<\/h2>\n

Speaking about the main event of UFC 328 between Khamzat
\nChimaev<\/a> and Sean
\nStrickland<\/a> for the middleweight title, the ATT coach criticized
\nthose who are taking away the merits of the new champion. If the
\ncoach had one major favor that contributed to Chimaev losing, it
\nwould be his massive weight cut reportedly over 40 pounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are practically saying that Chimaev lost because of the
\nweight cut. Hold on,\u201d da Matta exclaimed. \u201cWhat about Strickland?
\nThere was a guy there who made Chimaev tired and, in my opinion,
\nwon that fight in the last two minutes of a 25-minute war. So,
\nStrickland deserves all the credit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cParrumpa\u201d recounted that former Bellator MMA<\/a> champion Johnny
\nEblen<\/a> had been training with Strickland. Based on those
\nsessions, the coach believed that Chimaev would have difficulty
\nkeeping Strickland down for long. That proved to be true.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my opinion, Eblen is among the top 10 middleweights in the
\nworld and trains here at ATT. He said he trained with Strickland
\nand that it was very difficult to keep him on the ground. I confess
\nthat I even thought Chimaev would win, but because of these reports
\nfrom Eblen, I knew it would be a very close fight,\u201d da Matta
\ncontinued.<\/p>\n

\u2018Being a substitute sucks\u2019<\/h2>\n

The coach weighed in on the upcoming event at the White House on
\nJune 14. There are only seven matches on the billing, and the
\ndifficulty of finding a replacement on this notice that can pass
\nsecurity to go through that building. Arman
\nTsarukyan<\/a> volunteered to be ready to step in should something
\nhappen in the Ilia
\nTopuria<\/a>–Justin
\nGaethje<\/a> main attraction, including reaching championship
\nweight.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s already training. He\u2019s in Los Angeles now helping his
\npartner, David. I haven\u2019t actually talked to him about it yet. I
\nperfectly understand that he has to accept it to get back on good
\nterms with the company, but I personally like a camp for a specific
\nathlete. Being a substitute sucks. You can fight two fighters, you
\nhave to make weight, you don\u2019t even get the show money purse. But
\nat this moment I understand that he needs to do it and because he\u2019s
\nalways training, it\u2019s still a very good opportunity for him,\u201d Da
\nMatta concluded.<\/p>\n