UFC flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja dreams of one day fighting P4P great Demetrious Johnson
06/28/2024 05:20 PM
Whether it’s in the Octagon or at the gym, Alexandre Pantoja hopes he’ll have the chance to fight Demetrious Johnson one day.
Considered by many to be the greatest flyweight of all time and one of the P4P best fighters in MMA history, ‘Mighty Mouse’ holds just about every major record in the UFC’s 125-pound weight class. During his reign at the top of the division from 2012 to 2018, Johnson scored 11 consecutive title defenses and is a nine-time performance bonus winner, taking home an extra 50k for his work against the likes of John Dodson, Joseph Benavidez, Kyoji Horiguchi, Henry Cejudo, and Ray Borg.
So it should come as no surprise that ‘DJ’ is at the top of Pantoja’s list of dream fights.
“That’s a dream fight for me, of course,” Pantoja told Ike Feldman of Give Me Sport. “I’ll wait for him. Maybe we can fight in the UFC or maybe I can go to the gym and we can fight together, but that’s someone I want to train [with], fight [with], or something like that. I’ve had the chance to train his Henry Cejudo, trained with [Marlon] Moraes, and I miss Demetrious Johnson. I hope this can happen one day.
“That would be pretty huge for me. I respect the GOAT. I think I’m too far from his legacy, but I try to do my best every day.”
Alexandre Pantoja will have to head to ONE Championship if he wants a piece of ‘Mighty mouse’
Pantoja, of course, is the UFC’s reigning flyweight world champion, having dispatched fan favorite Brandon Moreno to capture the crown in July 2023. Since then, ‘The Cannibal’ has bagged two title defenses, defeating Brandon Royval and Steve Erceg in his last two outings.
Unfortunately, if Pantoja ever hopes to score a fight with Demetrious Johnson, he’ll likely have to jump ship to ONE Championship, the promotion that ‘Mighty Mouse’ currently calls home.
After dropping the flyweight title to ‘Triple C’ at UFC 227, ‘DJ’ was shipped off to ONE in exchange for former Bellator and ONE world champion Ben Askren. Upon arrival in the Singapore-based organization, Johnson scored three straight wins en route to his first ONE flyweight MMA title opportunity against then-champion Andriano Moraes. Johnson came up short in their first meeting but bounced back 16 months later, finishing Moraes in their ONE on Prime Video 1 rematch with a highlight-reel flying knee knockout.
Johnson closed out his first career trilogy against Moraes at ONE Fight Night 10 in The Mile High City—Denver, Colorado—landing a decisive decision victory to retain the title and take the series 2-1.
Though Johnson has left the door open for a return to MMA, ‘Mighty Mouse’ is closing in on retirement, but remains active in the world of combat sports, regularly competing and taking home gold at various IBJJF grappling tournaments around the country.
