Bulldog aims for victory at UFC Tampa to challenge partner Pantoja

'King of bonuses', Bruno Silva returns to action this Saturday (14), on the UFC Tampa card, looking for his fifth consecutive victory and, ideally, also with the fifth consecutive award of 50 thousand extra dollars for his performance. And, hopefully, 'Bulldog' hopes that a new triumph, this time over Manel Kape, will be enough to elevate him to the position of next challenger for the flyweight (57 kg) title, 'jumping the line' and becoming the in front of better ranked names in the division – even if to do so you have to measure strength with a team partner.

This is because, if his plan works out, the São Paulo native would face a possible title fight against fellow Brazilian Alexandre Pantoja, his teammate at 'American Top Team', an academy based in Florida (USA). Dominant in the division even before winning the title, the UFC flyweight champion suffers from a lack of opponents, as he already has victories against the main names in the category on his resume. Therefore, Bruno Bulldog is confident that he can claim the 'title shot' as he is one of the few in the top 15, in good form, to have never dueled with the Rio native.

“I think it's possible (to jump the queue for a 'title shot'). Because in the flyweight category nobody has four bonuses in a row and in the top 10, Pantoja has already beaten almost everyone, I think the only thing missing is Asu (Almabayev) and the Japanese guy who lost (Tatsuro Taira). By winning this fight, I will be in the top 9 and with five consecutive victories, I will definitely be one of the big names to fight for the belt next time”, stated Bruno.

Champion endorsement

And contrary to what many might imagine, Bruno's interest in a title fight against his training partner doesn't seem to bother the current champion. At least that's what Bulldog guarantees. According to the paulista, The possibility of a future confrontation has already been discussed with Pantoja, who gave his approval for his teammate to challenge him in case of victory on Saturday.

“We already talked the week before last. We were all in the circle, talking, and Adriano Moraes arrived and said: 'Bulldog said that if he wins, he will challenge Pantoja'. Then Pantoja said: 'Thank God. If you have the chance to fight for the belt, may God bless you, may we fight'. We never want to fight with a friend, I've known Pantoja for a long time, I helped him in his first UFC fight, he helped me, we lived together in Arizona for a while too. But we know it’s our dream. He knows that, he knows that it's our job, he's well aware of that, there's no ego there, in knowing that I can fight for the belt, on the contrary. It’s professionalism”, he concluded.

Before thinking about 'jumping the queue' in the race for a title fight in the Ultimate flyweight division, Bruno Bulldog will have to, first, overcome his rival this Saturday, the Angolan Manel Kape, 9th placed in the rankings and former champion of the Rizin. The African is coming off a defeat to Muhammad Mokaev, already released by the organization, but before that he had won four fights in a row.