When Demetrious Johnson was the UFC flyweight champion, the division suffered to some degree because of how dominant he was.
No one could knock “Mighty Mouse” off the top spot and that gave his fights a feeling of predictability, because he was levels above all challengers.
After he left the UFC following his loss to Henry Cejudo, the division became a lot more competitive and after title reigns from Cejudo, Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno, a new champion has started to make his mark at 125 pounds.
Alexandre Pantoja has produced back-to-back title defenses since becoming champion at UFC 290 last year and the flyweight GOAT believes that the Brazilian is here to stay.
Demetrious Johnson Says Alexandre Pantoja Was Underappreciated, Doesn’t See Him Losing The Title Soon
In a recent appearance on the JAXXON Podcast, Johnson gave his thoughts on the man that currently holds the title that once belonged to him.
The current flyweight king in ONE Championship is a big fan of Pantoja and said that he has been for a long time, after feeling like he was underappreciated for many years.
“I think he’s great. Alex Pantoja, I’ve always felt he’s been a dark horse at the beginning of his career in the UFC… I just felt, well to begin with, I feel like the flyweight division always had a hard time picking up any traction. This isn’t something new, I mean even when I was a champion in the UFC, it wasn’t the most popular in the whole roster of the UFC and I think Alex Pantoja, he came into The Ultimate Fighter, he didn’t win The Ultimate Fighter, Tim Elliott ended up winning it.”
As he stated, Pantoja made his way into the promotion through The Ultimate Fighter where if he had won the series, he would’ve challenged Johnson for the title.
Johnson then went on to say how in his opinion, there aren’t many contenders left for Pantoja that aren’t rematches because he beat many of them on his way to the title already.
The one exception being Muhammad Mokaev, who is no longer in the UFC after the promotion chose not to resign him at the end of July.
Due to this reason, “Mighty Mouse” doesn’t see Pantoja losing his grasp at 125 pounds anytime soon.
“It’s his [Pantoja’s] division and I think it’s his time to shine. He’s worked very hard his whole entire career and I’m very happy for him.”
Read also: Brandon Moreno Set To Return In UFC Fight Night Edmonton Main Event On Nov. 2
