Demetrious Johnson heaps praise on current UFC champion: "Always thought he's been a dark horse at the beginning of his career"
Demetrious Johnson recently heaped praise on a current UFC champion for overcoming the odds throughout his entire career. 'Mighty Mouse' noted that the fighter has worked hard to get to where he is in the sport and is proud of him.
'Mighty Mouse' is one of the most respected fighters in the sport and made a name for himself during his record-setting reign as UFC flyweight champion. Despite now competing for ONE, Johnson has remained up-to-date with his former promotion as well as the 125-pound division, which he ruled for many years.
During his recent appearance on MMA legend Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson's JAXXON PODCAST, 'Mighty Mouse' lavished praise on UFC flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja. Johnson mentioned that Pantoja has put in the work and has reached a point where he has defeated all the top contenders at 125 pounds. He said:
"I think [Pantoja is] great. I always thought he's been a dark horse at the beginning of his career in the UFC...Pantoja [is] very very good, well-rounded, grappling, that's his strongest suit...and that's the problem sometimes when you have a long road to get to the belt, is that you beat all of the contenders...Other than that, it's his time to shine. He's worked very hard his whole entire career and I'm very happy for him."
Check out Demetrious Johnson's comments below:
How long was Demetrious Johnson's reign as UFC flyweight champion?
Although Alexandre Pantoja has had an impressive UFC flyweight title reign so far, he still has a very long road ahead if he wants to get close to matching Demetrious Johnson's reign.
'Mighty Mouse' had a legendary reign as UFC flyweight champion, which began after winning the flyweight tournament when the promotion introduced the 125-division. After earning a split decision over Joseph Benavidez to win the inaugural championship, Johnson went on to set a promotional record for most consecutive title defenses with 11.
Johnson's flyweight title reign came to an end in 2018 when he lost a close split decision to Henry Cejudo, which ended up being his final bout in the UFC.
Check out the tweet regarding Demetrious Johnson's UFC flyweight championship win below: