Demetrious Johnson reveals shocking pay during UFC run: ‘That’s where that chip on my shoulder came

[AL-Tappo McSnappo]

Mods don't want people to see this?

Mods seem biased

here is the other thread
https://forums.sherdog.com/threads/...nder-through-his-third-title-defense.4273583/

 

[suffersystem]

Unfrotunately he just wasn't worth the pay to the UFC. had they been forced to pay him alot more, they would have simply folded that division I think. sad but the way it is.

 

[613MMAfan]

I don't think a guy who I could beat without ever training mma at all just because I'm 6'2 260 and twice his size should get paid more money than me

 

[NoSmilez]

I feel bad because it's partly fault of the fans and their POV of small guys being boring. We used to do that with 135 and 145ers when they first came in the UFC. I don't think they got paid much until later.

 

[Royce's Gi]

I can understand him being somewhat annoyed when CM Punk waltzes in and getting more Money than him in his first fight

 

[CerebralKnievel]

200k buys is 600k revenue for the UFC, plus another half million or more for gate, then sponsors. In other words, paying MM a million for a 200k PPV is giving him a third of revenue. Not an unreasonable ask unless you're in mma apparently.

Not to mention the UFC shit the bed with promoting MM and FLW

200k PPV buys is far more than $600k. Think more like $10m, even when DJ was champion.

 

[2004 account]

Mods seem biased

here is the other thread
https://forums.sherdog.com/threads/...nder-through-his-third-title-defense.4273583/

It sucks but they censor the truth like some pawns of the establishment. Never seen them censor about fighter pay though, kinda shows where their loyalty lies.





Doesnt matter, truth will always prevail and those that try to obscure it will have to answer for their actions some way, some how, some day.

 

[ditchbanger]

Lol .

UFC is the promotion ...

Its literally in their title/business name .. THERE SUPPOSED TO HANDLE THE BULK OF THE PROMOTING..


Also DJ was clean cut and professional and speaks and sounds smart and represents M.A culture beautifully ...he could of been marketed amazingly by the UFC .. instead he was ousted in one of the worse decisions ever


Ur a sheep ..

Just like this golden nugget by the UFC..


Dont leave it in the hands of the judges LOL.
.

Its like a university...you are taught the course but its up to you to use the knowledge.
People would leave the arena before his fights were done, Dana was even blasting this. DJ is very talented but almost the whole roster in the mens division could beat him rather easily, DJ was boring and very uninteresting to watch outside of the ring.
So tell me how the UFC is to promote a dull/non charismatic fighter who does not sell tickets and who did not care to promote himself?

 

[Shilajit]

Giving someone top billing isn't how you make a draw in combat sports. You have to develop rivals for them and ideally get them to fight another draw. That's how nearly every combat sports draw was made. Notice how the UFC never bothered to develop the division around MM?

That's literally a promoter's job. Make. Fans. Interested. It's not a science, but it's pretty clear the UFC half assed MM and the FLWs.

-Lean more into MM and gaming
-Learn how to promote fighters beyond the archetype of "hey, he talks trash, pay attention"
-Spotlight the division more (I actually don't blame the UFC for how the FLW tournament was bungled)
-Promote FLW title challengers more
-Sign every FLW you can, instead of constantly cutting them en masse and having to rebuild the division and its storylines
-Pair him up with an existing PPV draw: Boxing did this with even smaller fighters and got decent results. They only did this once with DJ
-A little out of the box, but one of the issues with mma is that camera angles from above the cage make fighters look smaller than they are. This could probably be fixed.
-Shit, the UFC could have probably drummed up interest by doing another tournament with a million dollar prize or some silly gimmick. Works in pro wrestling, which is the same business model.

There's also the larger issue of the UFC doesn't really know how to make stars (aka the job of a promoter), rather they just hop on the bandwagon after the fact.

Like Dana often ways

You either have it or you don't.

Some guys are just not meant to be stars. Promote all you want, it's not gonna change anything.

 

[j18lee]

Was thinking the same. Just can’t watch anything below 170, it’s just a freak show.

I'm like you, 6'4" 255 and I like like my fighters big and thick too. So yeah, I totally get not liking midgets like MM.

But 155 has some nice big ones for you to enjoy like Jalin Turner, 6'3" and thick. Then throughout the years, there were good size guys like Gleison Tibau, Edson Barboza, James Vick. While not tall, guys like Khabib, Conor, Tony Ferguson, Charles Oliveira, Dustin Poirier are worth watching.

You should consider 155, but yeah, definitely nothing smaller than that. I know that doesn't get you excited and your juices flowing.

 

[Yrat]

View attachment 963631

Demetrious Johnson shed some light on his pay during his tenure with the UFC – and the numbers are quite shocking.

The former UFC flyweight champion, now ONE Championship’s flyweight titleholder, revealed what he was getting paid while he was a title contender and champion in the UFC.

Johnson (31-4-1), who’s regarded as the greatest flyweight in MMA history, said he was making well under six figures many fights, even when he was several fights into his distinguished title reign.
“When I fought Dominick Cruz (for the bantamweight title in 2011), I was on a contract – I think I was fighting for ($14,000 to show) and ($14,000 to win),” Johnson said during one of his recent Twitch streams. “I lost to Dominick Cruz, so I made $14K. Then I was about to fight Eddie Wineland, and that didn’t go through, so I fought Ian McCall in Australia. I was still on that same contract. And then 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).

“So I beat Ian McCall, and then I fought Joseph Benavidez, and I was still on that ($20,000) and ($20,000). 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).”

Johnson revealed it took him three consecutive title defense for him to get a champion contract with the UFC – which usually means more money and pay-per-view points. “Mighty Mouse” did get a bump in pay, but didn’t get the same pay-per-view provisions most champions have in their contracts.“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 – and that’s where a champion makes most of their bang for their buck, is the pay-per-view points,” Johnson said. “Because 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.”
Toward the end of his historic title reign at 125 pounds, the UFC tried to book a champion vs. champion fight between Johnson and then-bantamweight titleholder T.J. Dillashaw. Johnson said low pay was the reason he never accepted the bout.

“When they tried to stiffarm me to fight T.J. Dillashaw, I was like, ‘Yeah, pay me a f*cking million dollars and I’ll do it. This is a super fight, let’s make some super money.’ They never wanted to do that. That’s why I came out like that, basically pushing back, like, ‘When does a champion have leverage? When does a champion be able to get what’s due to him?’“I’m going on my seventh or eighth consecutive title defense, you’ve got f*cking CM Punk over here who’s making 500 bones ($500,000) and it’s his second fight in the UFC. That’s where that chip on my shoulder came from.”
View attachment 963633

Without ufc he would never make 750k in One Championship. So my point is it could be worse

Ungrateful and spoiled ex-ufc champion

 

[RiseAboveHat]

This thread reminded me of Ian McCall, so I went to his wikipedia where there is this fascinating tidbit:

"He competed in wrestling for Dana Hills High School where he was a standout and then continued later at Cuesta College, before dropping out to a knee injury. He was also known to fight kids at the town center. Often striking kids for no reason besides being a bully. He was also a part of a gang called the Lords of South County, where the gang would regularly start fights with random people, usually multiple people beating up one unsuspecting person."


Whose the Sherdogger who got punked by McCall and had to write this in his bio?

 

[Rizzo]

Nobody is interested in manlets fighting, so why does he think he should get paid?

Yet you took the time to post about it. Classic white belt comment though

 

[HP_Nut]

I believe if the ufc did their job as a promotor and promote dj the right way, he would be more famous

Yes, when I said there must be a way somehow, I did mean the UFC could make it happen if they put more behind it. I agree with you

 

[Mcnugget]

Conor vs might mouse catch weight who wins

 

[jooohnmatrix]

I'm like you, 6'4" 255 and I like like my fighters big and thick too. So yeah, I totally get not liking midgets like MM.

But 155 has some nice big ones for you to enjoy like Jalin Turner, 6'3" and thick. Then throughout the years, there were good size guys like Gleison Tibau, Edson Barboza, James Vick. While not tall, guys like Khabib, Conor, Tony Ferguson, Charles Oliveira, Dustin Poirier are worth watching.

You should consider 155, but yeah, definitely nothing smaller than that. I know that doesn't get you excited and your juices flowing.

Geez you’re a popular one. Don’t think I have ever seen so few likes on a profile account. I can only assume you’re an angry little midget lol.

 

[Foonie]

Yet you took the time to post about it. Classic white belt comment though

You mad?

 

[chimpoehurricane]

Manletshhave less MMA appeal than wmma.

 

[avenue94]

200k is mostly because it's a ufc event. it's basically a baseline number, almost as low as you can get. so mighty mouse had little or nothing to do with most of those buys

Yeah, so much of the event's revenue was MM? 5%? 10%? You can't tell me whether he was underpaid or overpaid if you don't even have a sense of what you think headliners should get as far as revenue share.

Not to mention the UFC's entire brand is built on having the best fighters in the world. Like DJ.

What could MM do to become a draw though? Talk like Conor? Increase his size to 6'0?

Did he have to become a Rumble or a Rampage?

-Lean more into MM and gaming
-Learn how to promote fighters beyond the archetype of "hey, he talks trash, pay attention"
-Spotlight the division more (I actually don't blame the UFC for how the FLW tournament was bungled)
-Promote FLW title challengers more
-Sign every FLW you can, instead of constantly cutting them en masse and having to rebuild the division and its storylines
-Pair him up with an existing PPV draw: Boxing did this with even smaller fighters and got decent results. They only did this once with DJ
-A little out of the box, but one of the issues with mma is that camera angles from above the cage make fighters look smaller than they are. This could probably be fixed.
-Shit, the UFC could have probably drummed up interest by doing another tournament with a million dollar prize or some silly gimmick. Works in pro wrestling, which is the same business model.

200k PPV buys is far more than $600k. Think more like $10m, even when DJ was champion.

Good point, I forgot the zero. It's 6 million in promoter PPV revenue.

Its like a university...you are taught the course but its up to you to use the knowledge.

A course where your teacher is checked out and half asses it you mean? lol

Like Dana often ways

You either have it or you don't.

Some guys are just not meant to be stars. Promote all you want, it's not gonna change anything.

Of course. The issue I and other people have is the UFC didn't promote it all they could. It's one thing to say, we tried everything and it didn't work. It's another to half ass the job and then be like, well, our half effort isn't paying off, let's just quit and then just blame the fighter when we half assed it.

 

[Yrat]

What a shock. I remember people at the time calling MM a duck for declining that tj fight too
Dude literally has the title defense record yet he couldn't get a million for a champion vs champion fight lol
But hey, Dana leaving will only hurt the fighters!

Without UFC nobody knows who Mighty Mouse was and that is why he made more money in One.