Kajan Johnson picked up a split decision win over Stevie Ray on the preliminary card of UFC Fight Night London.
The fans didn’t like the result of the bout and showed Johnson with jeers, which the fighter says is a direct result of UFC President Dana White and the way he carries himself.
“I have a bit of an issue with the fans in mixed martial arts because of the way they treat the fighters,” Johnson told MMA Junkie. “In my opinion, it stems from the top. A lot of the time you’ll see Dana White giving the fighters so much grief. If you don’t go out, just sling leather and bleed for them, then he’s talking all this smack. And because the leader of the organization acts like this, then it’s so much easier for the fans to act like this. So it really upsets me, and it’s a huge problem that I have with it.”
One reason the fans may have been against Johnson is that Ray is from Scotland, which is part of the United Kingdom and England (where the event was held) is also part of the United Kingdom.
Johnson may hold White responsible for the fan disrespect, but he believes White would’ve enjoyed the bout this past Saturday.
“I think Dana probably would have liked that fight,” Johnson said. “He likes when people are fighting with their heart and not just with their skill. I think that’s very easy for fans to understand, whereas sometimes if you’re displaying your skill, you’re reserving your heart. That’s not a card you should lead with. You should use that card when all else fails, but you have to have it. So I think Dana would have been happy because we both showed our heart in that fight. But the fans, I believe, they were just upset with the way the decision went.”
White has yet to respond to the criticisms made by Johnson, who is also a part of the unionization group known as Project Spearhead.
