Demetrious Johnson has been spilling secrets about Conor McGregor, Dana White, CM Punk and the UFC’s pay structure.
‘Mighty Mouse’ defended his UFC flyweight title 11 times between 2013 and 2018, but was ultimately traded to ONE Championship in a deal that saw Ben Askren head the other way.
Johnson is universally regarded as the best 125lb fighter everCredit: Getty – Contributor
Johnson recently revealed that despite being one of the UFC’s greatest fighters of all time, he didn’t earn as much as other people who won belts in MMA’s premier promotion.
In fact, the 37-year-old earned less than WWE icon CM Punk when he crossed over to a new sport, only to get humiliated by a 1-0 prospect no one had ever heard of in 2016.
“This guy comes in and gets a base salary of f****** $500,000 [£396k],” Johnson said about CM Punk on his YouTube channel.
“There were also potential pay-per-view bonuses and other financial incentives in his contract. I had to defend the belt eight f****** times, and I didn’t get this.
“I fought and fought and fought. They specifically said, ‘We do not give pay-per-view points to flyweight guys. They said it to me.
“I went through my whole contract as a champion, I got to renegotiate, I wanted pay-per-view points, they said, ‘We don’t give it to you guys, and that’s where I went $125,000 [£100k, show money] and $50,000 [£40k, win bonus].
“I went on another streak, and I fought Henry Cejudo. After I knocked out Henry Cejudo, they gave me $350,000 [£277k] guaranteed.
“Then, finally, they put in my contract when I would break the record, or when I fight Henry Cejudo, they would give me pay-per-view points just for that one fight.”
CM Punk looked like a fish out of water in both of his UFC fights
But he still made more than Johnson and the same amount as McGregorCredit: Getty – Contributor
Johnson’s pay dispute with the UFC was particularly upsetting because he knew how much McGregor was making despite never defending either of his titles.
He added: “If you’re a lightweight or a welterweight, middleweight, or heavyweight, I’ve been told that once they became champion, they got $500,000 flat, and it went straight into their contract.
“They got pay-per-view points every single time. So, when Conor became champion, he got $500,000 flat pay-per-view points. Jon Jones got $500,000 flat, pay-per-view points. And some more.
“They disclose $500,000 flat, but that’s what they got. For me, it was never that.
“If I would have got pay-per-view points every single time I defended my belt, if I was on the Jon Jones, Conor McGregor card, Amanda Nunes, whatever it may be, it might not be an $800,000 [£633k] extra check, but those extra six-figure checks add up eventually [with] 10-11 consecutive title defences.”