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.”
Demetrious Johnson was ‘f*cking gutted’ after realizing how underpaid he was in UFC - MMA Fighting
