Alexandre Pantoja bests Brandon Moreno again to win UFC flyweight title - ESPN

Alexandre Pantoja proved he still has Brandon Moreno's number, defeating his old rival by split decision to capture the UFC flyweight championship Saturday night in an epic thriller at UFC 290 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Two judges scored it 48-47 for Pantoja, while a third judge had it 49-46 for Moreno.

Pantoja (26-5) officially has two wins now over Moreno, whom he defeated by unanimous decision in 2018, but he also owns a submission victory over him in an exhibition on «The Ultimate Fighter» reality show in 2016. Pantoja has won four straight fights.

Moreno (21-7-2) was coming off a TKO victory over Deiveson Figueiredo in January, when he regained the flyweight belt.

It was an action-packed fight from the opening bell. Moreno had early success landing combinations from the outside, but Pantoja drew first blood, catching him with a hard left hook to the chin that dropped him with just over two minutes remaining in Round 1. Pantoja followed with a big elbow on the ground, opening a cut over the champion's right eye.

Moreno wasted no time bouncing back in Round 2, landing clean strikes again from the outside, briefly stunning the challenger. Moreno connected with a left hook, then quickly took Pantoja's back. Pantoja got back to his feet, but Moreno didn't relent, cracking him on the chin with another big left hook.

Both fighters came out swinging to open a wild third round. Pantoja managed to back Moreno against the cage and then quickly took the champion's back while on the mat. Moreno reversed position and got back to his feet, landing perhaps the best strike of the round when he rocked Pantoja with a head kick. Pantoja scored another takedown, however, and controlled the champion on the ground for much of the