Demetrious Johnson Exposes UFC Pay Gap: 'CM Punk Made 500K, I Had 8 Defenses!'
03/14/2025 05:15 PM
Former undisputed UFC flyweight champion, Demetrious Johnson has once more hit out at the promotion in his retirement over the glaring issue of fighter pay, laying out his demands, whilst poking at professional wrestler, CM Punk’s paydays in the promotion for just two Octagon outings.
Johnson, a former undisputed flyweight champion in both UFC and Singapore-based promotion, ONE Championship — retired from mixed martial arts competition back in September of last year, bringing down the curtain on one of the most prolific and gold laden careers in combat sports.
And claiming recently he was unhappy with the pay he received during his illustrious run with the Dana White-led promotion, Kentucky veteran, Johnson claimed he was “gutted” with the compensation he received despite turned in an unmatched run as flyweight kingpin.
"That time frame from 2011 all the way to 2017, I had 17 fights," Demetrious Johnson explained. "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."
Demetrious Johnson continues tirade on UFC fighter pay issues
And this week, Johnson has laid out some of the demands he made during the final fights of his Octagon deal — comparing what he was requesting to disclosed pay of half a million dollars received by current WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) star, CM Punk for his pair of fights with Mickey Gall and MIke Jackson.
“My demands weren't, you know, outrageous, right?” Demetrious Johnson said on the JAXXON Podcast. “You got—what’s his name—CM Punk coming into the UFC, making 500K, and he ain’t had one damn martial arts match.
“And here's my black ass with six, eight title defenses, and I'm like, I just want a little more money,” Demetrious Johnson continued. “Make it happen!”
