Demetrious Johnson remains one of the most accomplished fighters in UFC history, but his career also became closely associated with the promotion’s long-running fighter-pay debate. Now, a revelation about his UFC earnings has left current welterweight champion Islam Makhachev stunned.

Ahead of his UFC 330 title defense against Ian Machado Garry, Makhachev joined Demetrious Johnson on the former champion’s YouTube show. During their conversation, the welterweight champion mentioned the purse of a horse racing champion in Dubai, who received $10 million, with the rider alone getting 10% of the prize money, $1 million. When Johnson revealed that he had never earned $1 million for a fight during his entire UFC run, Makhachev could barely believe it.

“I didn’t make that in the UFC,” Might Mouse said.

“No way! You never made more than $1 million?” Makhachev exclaimed.

“Not in the UFC. No… I didn’t,” DJ responded.

Saddened by the revelation, Makhachev replied, “I feel bad now, bro.”

The reaction was particularly notable because Makhachev has rarely been outspoken about UFC fighter pay. At the moment, the Dagestani champion is one of the better-paid fighters in the promotion, reportedly bagging over $3 million for his fight against Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 322 last year. Meanwhile, Demetrious Johnson spent much of his UFC career as the dominant force at flyweight but never reached the same financial heights.

According to reports, the former UFC flyweight champion’s highest disclosed purse came from his title defense against Henry Cejudo at UFC 227 in August, 2018. Mighty Mouse reportedly received a flat fee of $380,000, despite losing his belt that night by split decision. Before that fight, Johnson had competed in 12 title fights overall and defended the 125-pound belt 11 times, a UFC record. Even so, he received a relatively low purse for a champion, and he later revealed how gutted he felt about it.

“That time frame from 2011 all the way to 2017, I had 17 fights,” Johnson told MMA Fighting in 2024. “I think 12 of them were world championship fights and five of them weren’t. So I did all the math, I did all that stuff, and I was like, what the f—k? That’s all I made? I was in bed last night just doing the math. I was like goddamn, I’m f—g gutted. I was just gutted.”

Demetrious Johnson ended up having a complicated relationship with the UFC over fighter pay and ultimately left the promotion following his loss to Henry Cejudo. After that fallout, UFC eventually traded ‘Mighty Mouse’ to ONE Championship in exchange for Ben Askren, which in hindsight turned out to be a game-changing decision for DJ. In the same interview with MMA Fighting, DJ revealed that a move to ONE Championship was the “best thing” that happened to him, although he did not disclose his purse.

That said, Islam Makhachev isn’t the only fighter to feel saddened by Johnson’s low UFC purse. A former UFC champion from the Dagestani fighter’s current weight division has also shared his disdain over the 39-year-old allegedly being lowballed by Dana White.

Tyron Woodley reveals speaking to UFC about Demetrious Johnson’s fighter pay

Much like Demetrious Johnson, Tyron Woodley also had his fair share of tussles with the UFC over fighter pay. During a podcast with Mighty Mouse in 2024, the former welterweight champion revealed that he received $500,000 for his title fight against Kamaru Usman at UFC 235. Woodley, who had already made four successful title defenses before that fight, wasn’t happy with the purse he received. More so, he revealed that the UFC paid a similar amount to Donald Cerrone (reportedly $350,00), who was never a UFC champion.

During the discussion, ‘The Chosen One’ also disclosed that he argued with the UFC over Demetrious Johnson’s fighter pay. According to Woodley, DJ’s 11 consecutive title defenses put him at the same level as Steph Curry in the NBA, and he couldn’t understand why ‘Mighty Mouse’ wasn’t being properly compensated by the company despite his accomplishments.

“I argued with them [over] you a couple times,” Woodley said. “It ain’t have s–t to do with me, but I was like, nah. I was talking numbers. I’m like, when you go to basketball, it don’t matter if Steph Curry throwing a Monster can at somebody’s dome or bust a window out. He can pull a 3. He’s going to get paid top dollar… You got DJ who got [11] titles, but you going to pay ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone the same as him? Cowboy was making [$350,000]. He never touched gold ever.”

Demetrious Johnson retired after winning the trilogy against Adriano Moraes in 2023. Still, the former flyweight champion, who is arguably one of the greatest fighters in MMA history, has remained a focal point whenever the debate around fighter pay resurfaces.