Alexandre Pantoja eyes ‘Dream’ fight with Demetrious Johnson after UFC 301: ‘I have all the respect for him’
Off the back of his close unanimous decision win over challenger, Steve Erceg over the course of the weekend at UFC 301, undisputed flyweight champion, Alexandre Pantoja has admitted he hopes to land a fight with former divisional star, Demetrious Johnson in the future.
Pantoja, the current undisputed flyweight titleholder, headlined in his first outing in his native Brazil since joining in the promotion over the course of the weekend, landing a close, albeit debated decision victory against Perth native, Erceg – successfully defending his flyweight crown for the second time since his reign began last summer.
As for Johnson, the former undisputed UFC flyweight champion and current ONE Championship gold holder, has still yet to return to mixed martial arts competition since he defeated Pantoja’s compatriot, Adriano Moraes in a trilogy rubber match back in May of last year.
And sharing his thoughts on Pantoja’s victory over Erceg, Johnson, recognized as arguably the greatest mixed martial arts fighter of all-time, questioned if the Brazilian likely should have actually retained his crown on home soil.
Alexandre Pantoja eyes Demetrious Johnson clash
However, off the back of Johnson’s comments, Pantoja has noted his desire to actually share the Octagon with the veteran star in the future – describing a future pairing as a “dream” matchup for him.
“I think that’s the dream for me,” Alexandre Pantoja told MMA Fighting of a fight with Demetrious Johnson. “I don’t like to say I have dreams because I want to live everything I have in my life. I think [to] live is better than [to] dream.”
“But if I dream about something, it’s to fight with Demetrious Johnson,” Alexandre Pantoja explained. “I have all respect for him. If he don’t wan’t to fight, maybe I go to the gym and train with him, make hard sparring.”
Who wins in a potential clash: Alexandre Pantoja or Demetrious Johnson?
