Alexandre Pantoja is currently the top dog in the UFC flyweight division after beating fan favorite Brandon Moreno at UFC 290 to win the UFC flyweight championship. Following a successful first title defense against Brandon Royval, ‘The Cannibal’ is now looking forward to throwing down some fists this weekend against Steve Erceg at UFC 301. But the question we will address today is what goes into the Brazilian’s preparation for a fight of such magnitude and where he trains at.

Alexandre Pantoja started his journey in the mixed martial arts space well over a decade ago in 2007. He emerged as one of the top flyweight contenders when he was introduced as one of the 16 contestants on The Ultimate Fighter: Tournament of Champions. After moving to the United States, Pantoja started training in one of the most reputed gyms in all of MMA.

All about Alexandre Pantoja’s training at ‘American Top Team’

Alexandre Pantoja trains in one of the most well-known and respected gyms in MMA, the American Top Team, which was founded by Dan Lambert. The gym houses plenty of well-recognized and respected fighters, such as Dustin Poirier, Jorge Masvidal, Arman Tsarukyan, and many more. Most of them are in the UFC.

The gym also hosts plenty of well-respected coaches. Conan Silveira, who is the head coach, and Mike Brown, along with Marcos DaMatta and King Mo. Steve Mocco is the wrestling coach. Dyah Ali Davis and Gabriel de Oliveira are boxing coaches. Everton Bittar Oliveira and Will Fuchs serve as the strength and conditioning coaches.

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The gym has a wide array of striking coaches with the likes of Thiago Alves, Artem Levin, Steve Bruno, Anderson Franca, Luciano Dos Santos, and Vitelno Katel Kubis, all equipped to help fighters like Alexandre Pantoja become the best versions of themselves.

Pantoja seems to have a great relationship with his coaches and teammates. He posted a picture on Instagram with the caption, “Don’t mess with me. Been working on this for a long time! I have the best team in the world!”

In a place where iron sharpens iron, ‘The Cannibal’ still has plenty of room to improve as a fighter as he surrounds himself with the best MMA fighters in the world. He also trained for a brief period with Colby Covington, who is not a member of the American Top Team anymore. After achieving one of his biggest feats, Alexandre Pantoja once received a welcome in his gym, which is the stuff of dreams for most fighters.

When Alexandre Pantoja received a heroic welcome from his gym

Brandon Moreno is arguably the best Mexican export in the UFC. ‘Assassin Baby’ captured the 125-pound gold on two separate occasions and is even the first Mexican fighter to achieve those accolades in the UFC. So what would a win over such a legend mean to Alexandre Pantoja when he defeated Moreno to win the title? Well, ‘The Cannibal’ received a one-of-a-kind hero’s welcome at the American Top Team gym after his successful UFC 290 outing.

The people in Alexandre Pantoja’s gym seem to empathize with the struggles he had to endure to reach a point of success. He even worked as an Uber Eats driver before becoming the kingpin of the flyweights in the UFC. The video of his welcome into the gym as champion showed everybody cheering the Brazilian as Pantoja embraced his coaches with hugs.

Now it’s time to move ahead and Alexandre Pantoja will look to continue his title reign this weekend. His opponent, Steve Erceg, may have less experience than him, but the Australian fighter has a pretty solid 12-1 record. How will things pan out at UFC 301? We will have to wait and see.