"Looks like still on the early prelims" - Fans react to near-empty arena following Alexandre Pantoja's win at UFC 301

Fans reacted to Alexandre Pantoja interacting with a near-empty crowd following his win in the UFC 301 main event.

On Saturday night, Pantoja ended the pay-per-event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, by defending his UFC flyweight title against number 10-ranked Steve Erceg. 'The Cannibal' struggled at times due to Erceg's high-level performance before ultimately emerging victorious by unanimous decision (49-46 and 48-47 x2).

Pantoja's gusty win should have led to a special moment with the crowd, as he battled to retain his throne in front of Brazilian fans. Unfortunately, as the reigning flyweight king left the octagon, he interacted with only a few people still in the arena. Most of the audience had cleared out immediately following and even before the main event.

A video of Pantoja taking pictures with some fans was posted on Instagram by MMA Fighting. The comment section was filled with people pointing out the arena was quickly empty, including the following messages:

"The arena is empty wtf Brazilian fans"

"bro that arena looks like still on the early prelims"

"That crowd was dead it was empty embarrassing they sure love mma ok"

"Those people in Brazil vacated that building immediately!"

Instagram comments

Pantoja's win at UFC 301 was the second defense in his flyweight title reign. The 34-year-old holds a six-fight win streak after taking out Manel Kape, Brandon Royval x2, Alex Perez, Brandon Moreno, and Steve Erceg.

Watch the video of Alexandre Pantoja interacting with the fans in a near-empty arena below:

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Glover Teixeira's post-fight crowd at UFC 283 was similar to Alexandre Pantoja's at UFC 301

The post-fight crowd at UFC 301 shouldn't be seen as an insult to Alexandre Pantoja, as the Brazilian fans have done this before.

In January 2023, Teixeira suffered a unanimous decision loss against Jamahal Hill for the vacant light heavyweight title in the UFC 283 main event. Shortly after the official decision, Teixeira retired from fighting and ended his legendary career.

Teixeira made a post-fight retirement speech in front of a near-empty crowd, which many fans worldwide found disrespectful. It should be noted that pay-per-view events end around 1:00 am local time or later in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, likely contributing to people leaving the venue immediately following the main event.