Ultimate Fighting Championship

UFC: Who Will Be Demetrious Johnson's Next Challenger?

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 11:08 a.m. ET

Fansided, Josh Evanoff/FanSided via Cage Pages

It’s been two months since Mighty Mouse last defended his title against Tim Elliott. Let’s look ahead to who could be next for the UFC flyweight champion.

Demetrious Johnson last beat Tim Elliott at The Ultimate Fighter 24 Finale in December, with the champ not looking ahead to 135-pounds right now. Let’s look at who can be next for Mighty Mouse. Johnson has already beaten the majority of the UFC’s top-10. So pickings are a bit slim for the champ.

Keep in mind that Johnson is recovering from a knee injury suffered during the fight, and his return date is unknown.

Joseph Benavidez

Benavidez has already been beaten by Mighty Mouse twice, last being knocked out by him in December of 2013. But it’s hard to argue that he’s not the top contender and with good reason.

Benavidez is currently riding a six-fight winning streak, last beating former title challenger Henry Cejudo at The Ultimate Fighter Finale in December. While it is hard to get jazzed about a third fight between Benavidez and Johnson, he has the best credentials at the moment to get a shot.

Those credentials are most notably marked by the aforementioned six-fight win streak, which includes submitting Tim Elliott, who just fought for the title. However, his last fight with Cejudo was controversial, so don’t be surprised if they run that fight back while Johnson fights someone else.

Want your voice heard? Join the Cage Pages team!

Wilson Reis

Wilson Reis and Demetrious Johnson were supposed to throw down in Atlanta last July at UFC 201. Johnson ended up suffering an injury that made him pull out of the fight, Reis stayed on the card and choked out UFC newcomer Hector Sandoval.

While Reis is only on a two-fight winning streak, he is owed a title shot now, and a win at UFC 208 over Ulka Sasaki will only bolster his credentials. Wilson being a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu could potentially cause problems for DJ on the ground if he could get it there. This is the fight that is the most intriguing given the two fighters ground games.

Kyoji Horiguchi

Another fighter, another rematch for Demetrious Johnson. These two have already thrown down in Canada at UFC 186. With Mighty Mouse dominating and then submitting Horiguchi with just one second left on the clock.

Kyoji is probably the most interesting prospect in the flyweight division, at only 26 years old he has accumulated a stellar record of 18-2. Horiguchi is currently on a three-fight win streak since losing to Johnson, last defeating Ali Bagautinov in November. The Japan native is one of the youngest and brightest talents in the division and it would interesting to see if he could potentially beat Mighty Mouse the second time around.