'I ain't gonna be no Jose Aldo'… Demetrious Johnson explains why he won't come back to fight Alexandre Pantoja following UFC 310 callout
12/08/2024 08:11 AM
Following his win over Kai Asakura at UFC 310 on Saturday, flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja made an audacious callout of the consensus greatest flyweight of all time, Demetrious Johnson.
After beating Brandon Moreno last year to become the UFC flyweight champion, Alexandre Pantoja has continued to cement himself as one of the best 125lb fighters ever.
‘The Cannibal’ went on to defend his title twice more before he was matched up with promotional newcomer and former RIZIN bantamweight champion, Kai Asakura, at UFC 310.
Dana White reacts to Alexandre Pantoja’s callout of Demetrious Johnson
The Brazilian submission specialist went on to secure a second round submission win over the Japanese striker, marking the 11th submission win of his career thus far.
Having already fought Moreno three times and Brandon Royval twice, Pantoja is running out of flyweight contenders to defend his title against.
Because of that, following his extremely impressive win, the 34-year-old called for a huge fight against former UFC flyweight champion and one of the greatest fighters of all time, Demetrious Johnson.
During his seven fruitful years in the UFC, ‘Mightymouse’ made 11 defences of his title before leaving the promotion in the sport’s first ever trade, which saw Ben Askren come over from ONE Championship, with Johnson heading the other way.
Since leaving the UFC, Johnson’s relationship with the UFC hasn’t been a great one, and he even admitted that leaving the promotion to join ONE Championship was the best decision he’s ever made.
Despite that, during the UFC 310 press conference, UFC CEO Dana White admitted that Pantoja’s callout of ‘Mightymouse’ is ‘interesting’ and didn’t shut it down.
“I don’t know (if I’d entertain it). That’s interesting. Listen, I was the one beating the drum about Demetrious Johnson a long time ago, so yeah, I don’t know,” White stated.
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Demetrious Johnson explains why he won’t return to fight Pantoja
However, the decision has seemingly been taken out of the UFC boss’ hands, as Johnson immediately reacted to Pantoja’s audacious callout with a comical tweet on X.
With that, though, Johnson has gone into more depth about why he won’t return not only to the UFC, but to MMA in general, after announcing his retirement earlier this year, subsequently being the first fighter inducted into the ONE Championship Hall of Fame.
“I’ve been offered $2m to come and do one fight, one fight, and I said no. I said absolutely no. It wasn’t with the UFC,” Johnson began to explain in a video on his YouTube channel.
“I gave myself a full blown year to see if I miss it, to see if it’s my identity and I didn’t miss it… I don’t wanna rely on my body or me being the best in the world in order to pay my bills.
“My New Years resolution in 2024 was that I’m not gonna fight ever again. I’m not gonna accept any fights that come on the table, I’m saying no… So when Alex Pantoja called me out, everyone’s blowing me up asking what I think.
“Guys, I’m retired, I have no interest to fight anymore… I’m not the best flyweight in the world anymore, my black ass is retired and I’m happily retired. I ain’t gonna be no Jose Aldo, I ain’t gonna be no Donald Cerrone coming back to fight, there’s no point coming back to fight,” Johnson stated.
Jose Aldo was widely considered the greatest featherweight of all time, however, some fans think he could be tarnishing his career by continuing to fight at 38 years old.
