Terrance McKinney, Alexandre Pantoja, UFC 301 recap

UFC Unfiltered with Jim Norton and Matt Serra

Today’s episode of UFC Unfiltered is headlined by none other than Saturday’s UFC 301 headliner himself as UFC men’s flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja calls in the show shortly after the guys chop it up with lightweight veteran Terrance McKinney.

Jim and Matt begin the show by unpacking the action from this past weekend’s card in Rio de Janeiro, expressing their appreciation for the masterful performance José Aldo put on in front of his Brazilian people in a victorious return to the Octagon.

Terrance McKinney hops on while en route to St. Louis for his fight on this Saturday’s UFC Fight Night card against Esteban Ribovics. McKinney speaks candidly about his preference to remain active on the heels of his two-fight winning streak — especially with his last win in October requiring just 20 seconds of cage time before securing a highlight-reel 1st-round knockout.

While waiting for Alexandre Pantoja to call in, Jim and Matt work their way through the rest of the UFC 301 main card with a particular emphasis on Anthony “Lionheart” Smith’s crowd-silencing upset win vs. a previously unbeaten Vitor Petrino.

Finally, Pantoja hops on the call to break down his successfully-executed game plan against Steve Erceg in last Saturday’s main event before sharing how different things have become for him now that he has a target on his back as a champion with multiple title defenses.