Alexandre Pantoja makes a new offer to Demetrious Johnson after he turned down his original fight offer
12/12/2024 07:11 AM
Following his UFC 310 title defense against Kai Asakura this past Saturday, Alexandre Pantoja made an audacious callout of the flyweight GOAT, Demetrious Johnson.
After almost clearing out the top 10 of the UFC flyweight division, the promotion signed former RIZIN bantamweight champion, Kai Asakura, and afforded him an immediate shot at the flyweight title.
Despite that, Alexandre Pantoja showed once again why he is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters on the planet when he submitted the Japanese striker in round two.
Following the fight, ‘The Cannibal’ called for a huge fight against former UFC flyweight champion, Demetrious Johnson, despite him having left the promotion several years ago, since retiring from the sport.
Johnson responded to Pantoja’s callout by explaining why he won’t come out of retirement, disappointing the Brazilian and the majority of fans.
Alexandre Pantoja sends new offer to Demetrious Johnson following fight callout
Although the 34-year-old won’t get his wish of fighting ‘Mightymouse’ inside the UFC Octagon, he has sent Johnson a new offer.
“I understand if he doesn’t want to (fight), I have huge respect (for him),” Pantoja began to explain on The Ariel Helwani Show.
“But I’ve seen him training right now and I don’t know, maybe that (fight) happens. I just need to train with him, maybe training with him, that’s something I want because I’m training with (Henry) Cejudo, I train with Kyoji Horiguchi and Adriano Moraes, I fight with a lot of good fighters.
“That’s something I have dreamed about, fight with the best fighters in the world, Demetrious Johnson is the best one… He’s so smart and I want to challenge him for that, that’s why I’m fighting, and that’s why I never say no to anybody. Maybe I can text him and we can train together,” Pantoja stated.
‘Mightymouse’ was recently spotted training with Islam Makhachev and Khabib Nurmagomedov which sparked excitement amongst fans, however, he stated that he was only there helping out a little bit.
Alexandre Pantoja responds to Deiveson Figueiredo’s callout
Although Johnson won’t be returning to the UFC to fight the champion, Pantoja could have his next opponent set, as former flyweight champion, Deiveson Figueiredo recently called him out.
Figueiredo recently moved up to the bantamweight division where he was seemingly putting together a great run all the way up to title contention. Despite that, he was recently handed his first bantamweight loss against Petr Yan, which has him considering moving back down to flyweight.
Despite the fact he is coming off a loss, ‘Deus Da Guerra’ could find himself immediately back in a 125lb title fight as he already holds a win over Pantoja from their first meeting back in 2019.
“I want that too, that’s one of the fights I want because he already beat me and I know 100% I can beat him but that would be a danger for the UFC with him (trying to) make the weight, maybe it’s a danger for Figueiredo to try to do that because his body has changed.
“Figueiredo is a monster, that’s why he’s called the God of War, that’s a fight that makes me really excited,” Pantoja stated.
