When it comes to the winners and losers in the only trade to ever take place in MMA history, Demetrious Johnson knows how he fared after he was sent to ONE Championship in exchange for Ben Askren.
The 38-year-old former UFC flyweight champion, who announced his retirement from the sport back in September, admits that moving to the Singapore based promotion was the best move made during his entire career. While there are numerous reasons why Johnson feels that way, it’s pretty easy to surmise why the financial benefits probably sits at the top of his list.
“ONE Championship is the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” Johnson told MMA Fighting. “The reason why I say that is on multiple fronts. Obviously the [UFC antitrust] lawsuit just went preliminary [approval] and I remember somebody said you take 23 percent of whatever you made in the company and that’s what it would be [that you earned].
“That time frame from 2011 all the way to 2017, I had 17 fights. I think 12 of them were world championship fights and five of them weren’t. So I did all the math, I did all that stuff and I was like what the f*ck? That’s all I made? I was in bed last night just doing the math. I was like godd*mn, I’m f*cking gutted. I was just gutted.”
Financial disclosures made as part of one of two UFC antitrust lawsuits revealed how much fighters were being paid compared to the total revenue earned by the promotion. While the numbers varied from year to year, the average was typically between 16 to 20 percent of the overall revenue went back to the athletes.
That’s dramatically lower than most major sports leagues like the NFL or NBA where players earn around 50 percent of the total revenue, which is based upon a collective bargaining agreement negotiated by a union representing the athletes against the owners of any particular sports league.
When he sat down and started comparing how much he got paid versus how much the UFC was making, Johnson was gob smacked by the numbers.
“For being one of the best fighters in the world, at one point in time the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. I was like f*ck, godd*mn,” Johnson said. “If I would have done NBA, f*cking baseball, it would have been f*cking pennies on the dollar what I made in the UFC.”
As much as Johnson laments how little he believes he earned compared to the UFC’s overall revenue, he can’t help but wonder how much compensation was going to the fighters who weren’t winning championships.
Johnson was the first and only flyweight champion in the UFC until he lost a razor-close decision to Henry Cejudo, which ultimately served as his final bout in the organization. So for over five years while Johnson ruling over the division, he knows there were plenty of ultra-talented fighters who almost certainly weren’t taking home a bigger paycheck than him.
“I think the first thing that came to my mind, and I’m going to stop at that,” Johnson said. “If I was the champion, and I did 17 fights during that time frame and I did all of the math, without the Reebok sponsorship and without the Dodge Dart and all the other sponsorships because I don’t really know those numbers, I felt very comfortable with the numbers I put there. If I made this much, and I feel a certain way, I’m curious what the next guy felt.
“Like Joseph [Benavidez], Ray Borg, John Dodson, John Moraga, the list just goes on. That was the first thing. Me and my producer talked about that this morning, I was like if I feel this way, and I was the champion and I was winning all my fights, I don’t think anybody else in the flyweight division was making more money than me, so if I feel this way, imagine how those guys feel.”
Looking back now, Johnson says the unprecedented trade that sent him to ONE Championship altered his life forever and there are zero regrets about how it all went down.
Even though the move only happened after Johnson lost his flyweight title to Henry Cejudo, he promises there’s nothing he would change about that result.
“It was the best career decision I ever made,” Johnson said. “I love ONE Championship for it and I’m still involved with ONE Championship helping them build their brand and their fighters. I’m so glad. If I had a crystal ball and foresee the future, if it was like if I beat Henry [Cejudo], my Black ass would be stuck in the UFC, still fighting tooth and nail for more money or if I looked into it and be like I should lose and you’re going to go over to ONE Championship and make more money? We going to lose this f*cking fight. It’s OK, don’t worry about it.
“But everything worked out the way it is. I believe god had a plan and the way it played out is the way it should have played out. I’m truly grateful for that.”
Now just because moving to ONE Championship ended up being the best possible solution for his career, Johnson isn’t sitting around just being bitter about how he was treated in the UFC.
Johnson understands that he signed every single contract and bout agreement sent his way, which means he knew exactly what he was being paid along the way.
He also knows that ONE Championship’s interest in him came primarily from the career he built in the UFC so Johnson doesn’t harbor any ill will towards his former employers.
Just after he retired, UFC CEO Dana White praised Johnson and said that he was a lock for the company’s Hall of Fame.
While they haven’t always gotten along, Johnson appreciated that statement from White and he wouldn’t dream of turning down that honor of joining the UFC Hall of Fame even if he’ll always remain happy that his career ended in ONE Championship.
“Let’s not get it twisted. I am grateful for my time in the UFC because that gave me the platform to be able to build my brand,” Johnson said. “When I went over to Asia, I already had a fan base. I wasn’t a new kid coming into there. I was on the biggest platform in North America, became a world champion, pound-for-pound best fighter in the world, 11 consecutive title defenses, so I made my career in the UFC. There hasn’t been anybody else that’s able to do what I’ve been able to do in terms of the UFC. So I think it’s only right but if they see fit that I deserve to be in the Hall of Fame, then absolutely I’ll accept it.
“Like I said, there’s no ill will. It does me no good to go to bed at night pissed off at Dana White. There’s no energy. That’s a waste of energy. There’s no ill will that I don’t want the UFC to succeed. Because it does nothing for me. If they succeed, awesome. If they fail, OK, it is what it is. But my time in the UFC was amazing. I’ll absolutely accept that award.”
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