Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson is the current UFC Flyweight Champion, in fact, he is the only flyweight champion that the UFC has ever had.
Johnson has been fighting just about everybody that the UFC has put in front of him, something he recently spoke to Submission Radio about.
“Doesn’t matter to me. My paycheck is exactly the same. I think you see a lot of guys who are starting to come out and say, ‘no I’m not going to fight that guy, even though he’s the number one contender because I want a better pay check,’ and you’re starting to see a lot of champions do it. I understand why they’re doing it; because the UFC have made it a point – champions don’t get paid the top dollars. And you’ve got a guy who can come out, who’s never lost – I have nothing against GSP, but I like to keep it real – you have a guy that hasn’t been active in three years and he’s (probably going to make) way more money than any champion on the roster – probably same as Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz – but that’s what the UFC has started to do. And you’re starting to see a lot of people say, ‘if I don’t get this title shot, this is not a sport at all,’ and I think we’re starting to lose that mystique to where you have two of the best fighters in the world, going out to fight each other to become the champion. But now, everybody is like, ‘I don’t want to fight the number one contender, I want to fight the guy who everybody likes to watch fight, so that I get that big pay check.’ Trust me, I’m about to jump in that boat too, but I will never turn down a fight and I’ll just fight anybody.”
Johnson also took time to speak about something that is a very controversial topic in the UFC right now, which is fighter pay.
“I think that’s with anybody. I think the only person who will ever lose in a fight and still end up making a million dollars, is Conor McGregor – that’s just because of how his contract is structured or whatever. But you got a guy like Luke Rockhold, where he was a champion and then he lost and now his pay isn’t what it used to be when he was the champion and he’s a little upset about that. I totally understand that. It totally makes sense. Same thing with TJ Dillashaw. I was mind-boggled when I saw that, how Sage Northcutt made more than the (former) champion of the 135-pound division. So I mean, that’s just to show you.”
Johnson also spoke about a potential fight with Dominick Cruz, who is the current UFC Bantamweight Champion.
“I think $2 million is fair. I think it’s $2 million. Obviously we don’t have the same fanbase, you know, we’re not prom king or prince or duke or whatever like Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz are. But I’ll tell you what, our skillset and what we’ve done in the past as mixed martial artists in this sport – shit, Dominick Cruz has defended his belt more times than Conor McGregor has and Conor McGregor is more active than Dominick Cruz. So that right there, just what we bring to the table as athletes and what we’ve done in this sport, I think that deserves two million dollars, especially since the UFC got bought for 4.2 billion dollars. WME-IMG has the cash to front this fight.”
