Ex-UFC flyweight king Demetrious Johnson shares honest thoughts on UFC 317 faceoff between Alexandre Pantoja and Joshua Van

Demetrious Johnson recently weighed in and shared his honest thoughts on the faceoff between Alexandre Pantoja and Joshua Van following the co-main event of UFC 317. The former flyweight king explained why he believes it does more harm than good as it pertains to Pantoja's performance.

Pantoja submitted Kai Kara-France to retain his flyweight championship in the co-main event. It was an impressive performance as 'The Cannibal' executed his game plan to perfection and set a new record for most wins, finishes, and submissions in the UFC flyweight division. Following the bout, Van, who had earned his biggest win over Brandon Royval in the previous bout, entered the octagon for a faceoff with the flyweight champion.

In his UFC 317 recap video on his YouTube channel, Johnson discussed Van being the next title challenger and his instant reaction to the matchup. 'Mighty Mouse' also mentioned that he believes the faceoff was counterproductive because it took all the attention away from 'The Cannibal's' accomplishment. He said:

"I think the biggest thing for Pantoja is that his stronger suit is getting you to the ground. When he's on the feet, it's a wrecking ball. He throws everything at you... Van's gonna have to defend the takedown and when he defends the takedown, he's going to have to... have Pantoja stand up... I don't like the fact that they brought [Van] in there during [Pantoja's] speech cause it just takes light away from what he did was so special. But at the end of the day, we'll see what happens."

Check out Demetrious Johnson's comments regarding Alexandre Pantoja and Joshua Van's faceoff below (1:18):

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Demetrious Johnson says Joshua Van shouldn't be discouraged if he loses against Alexandre Pantoja

Demetrious Johnson also said that Joshua Van shouldn't be discouraged should he comes up short in his flyweight title fight against Alexandre Pantoja.

In the aforementioned video, Johnson highlighted Van's age and experience and mentioned that he should be proud and still eager to learn regardless of what the outcome ends up being:

"Van is 23-years-old, Pantoja is 35 [years-old]. Even if Van loses this title fight against Pantoja, you give Van 10 more years, he's gonna be fu**ing 32... So, no matter what happens in this next fight for Van, I think it's a moral victory for him to be training for five years of his whole entire career." [13:27]

Check out the faceoff between Alexandre Pantoja and Joshua Van at UFC 317 below: