Johnson was willing to fight Dillashaw (2015), Cruz (2016), and Garbrandt (2017)

[Mau]

I cringe a lot when I read guys saying how much a fighter is worth with numbers pulled from their asses.

Imagine if all this knowledge and information about the fight game was put unto something lucrative, the UFC wouldn't be the monopoly it is.

"MM is not worth 1 million, he is worth I think 200k, because reasons". lol

 

[VinceArch]

but that's dana money, not ufc money. two different things. and at least disclosed money I think only gsp, brock and mcgregor made more than a million. and MM isn't at that level. not in the drawing power level

Dana's money or UFC's money it should not be too much of a problem. I agree DJ isn't on GSp or Conor's level but as I reiterate, it would only be for one fight and again, this isn't the worst thing a fighter has asked. Whether people like it or not, DJ is a champion and a pay increase should not be so far fetched IMO.

 

[acannxr]

He made a flat rate of 370k vs Borg, 360k vs Reis and 350k vs Elliott.. prior to that he was making a little over 100k to show during the span of the Benavidez 2 fight to the first Cejudo fight. He is asking for 1-2 mil in total pay, not to show..

What's funny is that I already explicitly mentioned that Johnson's request was a "total purse" and not just his show money:

If Dana White came out and agreed to Johnson's request for a $1-2 million total purse, and Johnson turned down the fight, I'd be the first person calling him a duck, but given that there's a history for Johnson's requirements for these fights spanning back three years then I'm not falling for White's lies.

 

[agibmxmma]

What's funny is that I already explicitly mentioned that Johnson's request was a "total purse" and not just his show money:

Yeah, I often question the posts some people make on here.. it's as if they don't read the initial post by the TS, or their level of comprehension isn't that high. Case in point, the person I was replying to..

 

[Mmmmmmma1234]

Willing to pretend meanwhile he's fought none of them TS you post this same stupid dj defense thread of how game he is every month.

 

[Toco]

Dana's money or UFC's money it should not be too much of a problem. I agree DJ isn't on GSp or Conor's level but as I reiterate, it would only be for one fight and again, this isn't the worst thing a fighter has asked. Whether people like it or not, DJ is a champion and a pay increase should not be so far fetched IMO.

increased a little bit, ok. for example to 500k. but 1 million plus? no way

 

[VinceArch]

increased a little bit, ok. for example to 500k. but 1 million plus? no way

What his pay is already 500k and he just wants 500k more? To me, that isn't a hard bargaining price and as champion it shouldn't be such a hard offer to give.

 

[Toco]

What his pay is already 500k and he just wants 500k more? To me, that isn't a hard bargaining price and as champion it shouldn't be such a hard offer to give.

He made a flat rate of 370k vs Borg

it was said in this very thread. maybe it's wrong. but based by that, he wants at least 600k more. now way buddy

 

[Hugh G Rection]

That's a paradox if I ever saw one:

1) The UFC, you admit, has done and continues to do a poor job promoting him and the division.
2) Your solution is for Johnson to accept and win "bigger profile fights" in spite of the point "1".

Bantamweight is just as poorly promoted (and cared about) as Flyweight, otherwise its champions wouldn't have historically been reserved for the co-main event slots on PPVs.

Maybe I wasn't clear. It's not a paradox in relation to the TJ fight.
I would argue that TJ is alteady a bigger name than MM, certainly to the casual fan. Beat TJ and/or Cody and maybe those people will start to give a shit.
He ain't winning any fans with his personality so if he wants the big bucks he's gonna have to start taking some risks with his choice of opponent.

 

[VinceArch]

He made a flat rate of 370k vs Borg

it was said in this very thread. maybe it's wrong. but based by that, he wants at least 600k more. now way buddy

It'll be something we will have to agree to disagree on. If he was asking for more than a million or a million every fight from here on out I'd think that was ridiculous. But for one fight? I really don't see why not.

 

[acannxr]

Beat TJ and/or Cody and maybe those people will start to give a shit.

But people don't even care about those two (or anyone else at Bantamweight), so why would people then start to care about Johnson if he defeated them? That's what I mean by your solution being paradoxical.

 

[usmctanker242]

Good to see the comments in here aren't letting MM off for effectively "price-ducking" his way out of those fights. Dana made it very public with MM when he chose Borg over Dillashaw and since then I could care less about MM. He had his chance to take a fight that would interest the fans and he chose not to take the fight because "reasons."

 

[Toco]

It'll be something we will have to agree to disagree on. If he was asking for more than a million or a million every fight from here on out I'd think that was ridiculous. But for one fight? I really don't see why not.

because he doesn't draw

 

[Hugh G Rection]

But people don't even care about those two (or anyone else at Bantamweight), so why would people then start to care about Johnson if he defeated them? That's what I mean by your solution being paradoxical.

I think we disagree more on how popular TJ and Cody are.
Because of TUF I see them both as being far more well known than MM amongst the more casual fans. Which is why it isn't paradoxical.
Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe nobody cares about any of them. But if I am wrong then MM definitely ain't getting the cash he's after.
No promotion or promoter is going to stump up a couple of million dollars for one unknown fighter to fight another unknown fighter in a fight no one cares about.

 

[acannxr]

Because of TUF I see them both as being far more well known than MM amongst the more casual fans.

The Flyweight Tournament on TUF drew more ratings than Dillashaw/Garbrandt TUF; though they both did poorly relative to previous seasons.

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe nobody cares about any of them. But if I am wrong then MM definitely ain't getting the cash he's after.

The more I think about it, the more I believe the UFC is testing the waters by putting Dillashaw/Garbrandt/Johnson on the same card; if it does high enough buyrates they very well may give Johnson the money he's asking for.

 

[acannxr]

Dana made it very public with MM when he chose Borg over Dillashaw and since then I could care less about MM.

It's more like the UFC chose Ray Borg over Sergio Pettis, then tried to renege on the booking with a non-champion from outside the division with no PPV points or increase in base pay.

And saying that you could care less means that you actually care.

 

[Makani]

“I think two million dollar is fair”, Johnson said. “I think it’s two 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.”

Wait, who hasn't?

 

[acannxr]

Wait, who hasn't?

That quote makes it sound like I said that (and not Johnson)...

 

[Tylerl90]

"Pay me 5 times more than I've ever made the UFC through PPV's and I'll fight"

Pussy.

 

[SOAzmayesh]

also I believe this is some form of gracie esque ducking. you ask for an absurd amount of money to fight someone, but they're not gonna give you such sum obviously, therefore the fight won't happen, which was what you want since the start of the negotiation process. you successfully ducked a fighter, but to the fans and the media you truly wanted to fight, but they just couldn't pay you the money you deserved, so instead of him being the duck, the ufc are the ones that are being cheap and not letting you fight said fighter. employed by rickson gracie masterfully against sakuraba. he never ducked, they just didn't want to give him the money that he deserved

I call it 'the deontay' although Diaz is pretty good at it too lol.