Is there weight discrimination in the UFC? The former champion caught Dana White in a lie
Sergey Sorokin March 26, 2024, 10:15 Moscow time
Demetrious Johnson said there are preferred divisions in the league.
The UFC does not have time to live quietly. The organization is almost constantly in the spotlight, and not always in a positive way. Very often he finds himself in conflict situations. Most recently, we were able to resolve a scandal involving an antitrust lawsuit. But not even a week had passed when the best promotion on the planet was attacked again. And so did the former UFC champion, who decided to remember Dana White’s past grievances.
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Demetrious Johnson has become a true climbing legend. He made 11 title defenses and for six (!) years he did not allow anyone to invade his belt. Furthermore, after the first defeat, Mighty Mouse left the organization. The fighter was transferred to ONE by Ben Askren in 2018. After this, Johnson remained silent for a long time and did not make any claims to his former bosses.
The conflict first broke out in January 2023. Then Johnson said that he received very low fees compared to the best in other divisions: “For the fight with John Dodson, they paid me $23 thousand + $23 thousand. When I fought John Moraga, I think they raised me to $26k + $26k. In the rematch with Benavidez – up to $30 thousand + $30 thousand. “Then I finally got a new contract as champion and they paid me $125,000 to show up and $50,000 to win.”
Demetrius Johnson
Photo: Brandon Magnus/Getty Images
And now Demetrius has responded to Dana’s claims that Johnson had never asked for a cut of pay-per-view tournament sales before.
Demetrius Johnson
former UFC flyweight champion
“I was told clearly that flyweight fighters do not receive bonuses for PPV sales. If you are a light, medium or heavyweight, you are welcome. And the champions of these categories automatically received fees of 500 thousand dollars, not counting additional bonuses. I never reached those numbers. It would be great because I have defended 11 titles. Dana says I didn’t even ask for my share of the sales. It isn’t true. So moving to ONE was my best decision. Take CM Punk as an example. After all, he came to the UFC and immediately received a base fee of $500 thousand. “I defended the title 11 times, but I never achieved something like that.”
It’s worth noting that Demetrius, unless he’s cheating, was actually paid very little in the UFC. For comparison, you can give the numbers of other champions in the same time period. For his fight at UFC 202 with Nate Diaz, Conor McGregor received a guaranteed fee of $3 million. For two fights with Daniel Cormier, Jon Jones earned $3.48 million. The difference is tangible and indisputable. Of course, we can also talk about the degree to which the fighters themselves are attractive to fans. But it can really affect the percentage of PPV sales. However, a big question is whether this should affect fixed rates.
The lack of a PPV for the flyweight division is also particularly galling. Again, it is the discrimination of a particular weight class that raises the issue. Almost all fights with the sale of paid broadcasts brought Conor a lot of money. Demetrius ended up on the same cards as McGregor and Jones, but received no winnings. He now has a completely different situation: in ONE. It was learned that he earns around 1 million dollars for each fight. Of course, this is still far from McGregor’s level, but he is decent.
The flyweight division may be inferior in popularity and interest to other divisions. However, it is very interesting that this has such a strong impact on the financial component. Demetrius’ words may discourage many who want to join a division that needs fresh blood and a reboot. I wonder how exactly White will react to such an attack from his former champion.
