MMA star Demetrious Johnson is considered one of the best fighters in the history of the sport. He is currently the flyweight champion in ONE Championship. Johnson recently revealed his details regarding how much he was paid for various fights during his time in the UFC.

Before his eventual exit, ‘Mighty Mouse’ boasted a record of 27 wins, 3 losses, and 1 draw in the UFC. He was the inaugural flyweight champion of Dana White‘s promotion and had a total of 11 title defenses to his name. Johnson recently appeared in a Twitch stream where he spilled all the beans regarding his UFC pay.

Demetrious Johnson defended his flyweight title thrice before getting a new UFC championship contract

‘Mighty Mouse’ told the fans and viewers how much he was paid for his fight with Dominick Cruz for the bantamweight title in 2011. “When I fought Dominick Cruz, I was on a contract–I think I was fighting for -it was 14,000 (to show) and 14,000 (to win),” said Johnson. He stated that he lost the match and just made for showing up. Demetrious Johnson then mentioned his fight against Ian McCall under the same contract and received the same amount, $14,000.

He said, “I fought Ian McCall in Australia. I was still on that same contract.” The 36-year-old fighter then revealed that he received a new contract after his second fight with McCall. “I got a new contract when I fought Ian McCall the second time. I think I got bumped up to ($20,000) and ($20,000),” said Johnson.

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After defeating McCall, Johnson faced Joseph Benavidez. He received the same bag of $20k for both, showing up and winning the bout. Johnson then said, “When I fought John Dodson, I made ($23,000) and ($23,000). And then when I fought John Moraga, it probably went to ($26,000) and ($26,000). And then when it was Joseph Benavidez (in the rematch), I think it was like ($30,000) and ($30,000).” Getting a UFC champion contract usually means more money and more pay-per-view points, which Johnson said took three consecutive title defenses.

“I finally got a new contract as champion, and I think it was ($125,000 to show) and ($50,000 to win), but I couldn’t get pay-per-view points,” said Demetrious Johnson. He mentioned that most of the money made by fighters comes from PPV points.

Fans and MMA fighters react to Demetrious Johnson’s UFC pay

Johnson explained the importance of PPV points to make money. He took the example of the PPV monster, Conor McGregor, and said, “If you get on a card with a Conor McGregor and he does 2.1 million buys, then you just do the f*cking math. You’re going to make a sh*tload of money. I never got the opportunity to do that.” ‘MMA Island’ shared a post on Instagram where many fans and other MMA fighters commented on Johnson‘s predicament.

Here are some of the reactions from Instagram:

• No way
• Wow Bellator Pays Great !
• That’s crazy
• Wooooow
• 2023 and I’m on the same exact beginner contract. Hmm time for some contract negotiations
• Bro got like a year’s salary of a teacher for beating up the best fighters in the world …Dana is stingy asf
• Damn that’s sad. Then they take away their sponsorships, money paid to them not out of their own pocket, but from other entities. just deciding to take money away from the fighters and not pay them to make up for it

Bellator fighter Jornel Lugo commentated that his promotion pays fighter way better than UFC. Even UFC flyweight Charles Johnson stated that he needed to negotiate with UFC. Two-time Superbowl champion, Ryan Clark, was also surprised by the amount of money the UFC paid Johnson.

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Moreover, fans were surprised to learn Johnson‘s payment details and felt that he was massively underpaid. They compared his earnings to that of a teacher in school. Fans claimed that the UFC is focused more on making money from fighters than paying them for getting inside the octagon.

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