Demetrious Johnson on big paydays: 'I need to go out there and become the prom king'

Demetrious Johnson isn’t struggling to make ends meet or anything like that, but the longtime UFC champ still has some goals that revolve around his paycheck.

Johnson (23-2-1 MMA, 11-1-1 UFC), the only flyweight champion in the UFC’s history, is gearing up for his eighth title defense, which will come in the UFC 197 co-main event on April 23 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas against Olympic gold medal-winning wrestler Henry Cejudo (9-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC).

With a grudge rematch between light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier and former champ Jon Jones in the main event, Johnson could stand to piggy-back nicely on the potential pay-per-view sales for the card.

Johnson has been a co-main event to a Jones fight once before at UFC 152 in September 2012. That event did a reported 450,000 in pay-per-view buys. In Johnson’s four most recent title defenses, all pay-per-view headliners, there have been a combined reported 560,000 buys. (The UFC does not release official numbers of its pay-per-view sales.)

So despite the fact Johnson is considered by many to be one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world (he’s the No. 1 ranked fighter in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA flyweight rankings and the No. 2 fighter on the pound-for-pound list), he said he’s not getting those crazy per-fight pay days that some of the other big names get.

“Are you saying I’ve reached the seven-figure status where I fight and they go, ‘Here you go, Demetrious, here’s a check for $2 million’? No,” Johnson recently told MMAjunkie Radio. “Have I ever got a check for seven figures? Absolutely not. Is that one of my goals? Absolutely.”

Johnson said over his career, he certainly has passed the million-dollar mark in earnings. For his win over John Dodson this past September at UFC 191, he made a disclosed $191,000 and it appears he’s been earning money in that ballpark for his past five title defenses.

But “Mighty Mouse” also knows the fighters who are getting millions of dollars per fight tend to be the ones who are resonating most with the fanbase at large – the Conor McGregors and Ronda Rouseys of the UFC.

“At the end of the day, it’s not about how good you fight or how many talents you have,” Johnson said. “It’s a (expletive) popularity contest. So I need to go out there and become the prom king, basically.”

And short of being the prom king, Johnson knows there are some fights that are going to sell better than others. If he beats Cejudo, it could be argued he’s cleared out the flyweight division’s top tier, leaving just some new contenders much farther down the ranks.

But if he were to move up for a superfight against bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw, for example, that might move the needle.

“That’s why I bring up the superfights – if this is such a big deal to the world and the company – a superfight – shoot, give me $2 million,” Johnson said. “Let me break that number. I’m going on my eighth title defense, and there are fighters who haven’t had the accolades in their mixed martial arts career – seven title defenses or whatnot. I’m not bitching or complaining (about what I get paid), I’m just keeping it real (about) that seven-figure number. I’m just keeping it focused and trying to break that number.”

For more on UFC 197, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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