“I just want the love of my dad” - UFC champ Alexandre Pantoja opens up about heartbreaking relationship with estranged father

Alexandre Pantoja recently opened up about his strained relationship with his estranged father and the comments he made during his post-fight interview at UFC 290.

During his appearance on today's episode of The MMA Hour, Pantoja detailed his heartbreaking relationship with his father and what he was thinking about after hearing the judges' decision. He mentioned that he thought about calling his father during the week of the fight because he wanted to create a special moment for his family.

He said:

"What I say in the cage is something like I just want the love of my dad, you know. I just want like feel him. In the week of the fight, I think about call to my dad and to cover all the scares because when I go to the fight, I want to make like a beautiful moment and I don't have more bad times."

Alexandre Pantoja explains his heartfelt UFC 290 post-fight message 🥺#TheMMAHour

“I just want the love of my dad."

▶️ youtube.com/watch?v=DauC6c… https://t.co/GXPnJ1VkS0

'The Cannibal' brought up that he didn't end up phoning his father and described the moment Dana White put the UFC flyweight championship around his waist. He mentioned that he thought about his father and the moments he missed out on, saying:

"When the fight's over, I thinking about him [father], I thinking about all those moments he don't can enjoy with me. You know, he don't can enjoy with his grandchildren, and he lose all the moments...I'm [a] daddy now and I do everything for my kids, I do everything for my family, and I give my life for all my two kids."

It must be difficult for Pantoja to share details about his heartbreaking relationship, but he did gain praise from fans for his inspiring journey to becoming UFC flyweight champion.

Alexandre Pantoja was recently working as an UberEats driver

Alexandre Pantoja has had quite the journey to becoming a UFC champion as he was recently delivering food for UberEats.

During the aforementioned episode, host Ariel Helwani began by complimenting the flyweight champion for overcoming obstacles throughout his life and UFC career. He mentioned that 'The Cannibal' worked as an UberEats driver to earn money in 2021.

He said:

"I mean, that's just absurd. So, the Royval fight - I know he hasn't fought in a while because he was waiting for this opportunity - that was August 2021, so that was less than two years ago. UberEats driver, made $100 the weekend before the Royval fight in August of 2021, and then stopped driving when he got the 50k bonus."

“Pantoja was driving for Uber eats two fights ago.”

Today, he’s a UFC world champion and coming off of a FOTY contender.

Pantoja will be on The MMA Hour around 2pm ET.

@Pantojamma / @arielhelwani / #TheMMAHour https://t.co/ElwphEogqP