"The only active fighter who has beaten him" - UFC alum agrees with "this is the fight" to make for Alexandre Pantoja who looks short of opponents

A former UFC athlete recently showcased his support for one of the active UFC fighters desiring to take on Alexandre Pantoja. 'The Cannibal's' challenger currently stands as the only active UFC athlete to get the better of him.

Pantoja earned his third successful title defense with a dominant submission victory over Kai Asakura at UFC 310. The Brazilian continued pressurizing his Japanese rival throughout the fight. He ended the encounter in the second round after submitting his rival with a rear-naked choke on the ground.

Currently, Pantoja has defeated almost all the potential title-shot contenders at flyweight. This is why he went on to call out Demetrious Johnson during his octagon interview with Joe Rogan.

But the former flyweight champ, Deiveson Figueiredo, recently made his case to get a shot at Pantoja's UFC flyweight gold. A recent Instagram update from MMA Fighting revealed Figueiredo's thoughts.

The former flyweight champ-turned-bantamweight opined that Pantoja should have called him out as he stands as the only active fighter on the UFC roster to have a victory over him.

​

​

​

​

"Demetrious Johnson is retired and doesn't want to fight again. If he's [Pantoja] looking for someone to fight, why didn't he mention my name? I beat him when I was at flyweight. If the UFC wants to put me against him [again], I'm open to going down to 125 [lbs] for this fight."

The comments section of MMA Fighting's post showcased the former UFC welterweight Alan Jouban, agreeing to Figueiredo's take on Pantoja. His comment read:

​

​

​

​

"I feel like this is the fight. All the other rematches Pantoja has won. This is the only active fighter who has beaten him."

Alan Jouban's comment on @mmafighting's Instagram post. [Image Courtesy: @mmafighting on Instagram]

Jouban entered the UFC in 2014 and his last fight was in 2020. He took to the octagon 13 times and holds a record of 8-5.

---

Alexandre Pantoja settled for training with Demetrious Johnson after latter denied his fight offer

Demetrious Johnson didn't take much time in responding to Alexandre Pantoja's UFC 308 callout. Pantoja challenged Johnson's widespread reputation of being the 'flyweight GOAT' of MMA, claiming that it was 'The Cannibal's' time now.

Johnson happily accepted Pantoja's words in his reply video on YouTube. He also admitted that he wasn't the best flyweight in the world anymore along with saying that he won't come out of retirement to fight Pantoja. 'Mighty Mouse' said:

​

"I am not the best flyweight in the world anymore and I’m happily retired. I ain’t going to be no motherf**king Jose Aldo. I ain’t going to be no motherf**king Donald Cerrone coming back to fight. There ain’t no point to coming back to fight."

Check out Demetrious Johnson's words below (13:45):

Pantoja had complete respect for Johnson's decision about never fighting again. But he presented another urge following Johnson's denial. In an interview with MMA Fighting, Pantoja mentioned that he would like to train with Johnson. The Brazilian said:

​

​

​

​

"What I think is I just want to train with him. I train with the best fighters in the world. I have the opportunity to fight the best fighters in the world. I can fight with a lot of good guys in the UFC, but if Demetrious Johnson [is fully] retired and doesn’t fight no more, maybe [we can] just train, because it’s something I want to take for my life, you know."

Check out Alexandre Pantoja's words below (14:34):

​