Demetrious Johnson Quotes

Obviously, CM Punk is a really big draw for the UFC. He's going to bring a lot of eyes to the UFC, and the better he does, the better it'll be for all MMA fighters as far as sponsorships and stuff.

Even when you're on top in the UFC, you only get paid a couple times a year.

Everybody in the Olympics is paid. Lindsay Vonn is going to make a million dollars whether she skis or not.

The UFC has a long history of changing a fighter's compensation for a particular bout... There's always changes that's always being made as far as contracts.

UFC is a moneymaking machine. The most important thing for this organization is a brand and its marketing. They have a couple of good fighters, and there are also some very good champions, but they are trying to keep everyone at the same level. The most important thing for them is the promotion, not the fighters.

I think the only person who will ever lose in a fight and still end up making a million dollars is Conor McGregor - that's just because of how his contract is structured or whatever.

Look at guys like Demetrious Johnson, who's the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world. Why isn't he on the largest pay scale? Why are there people that aren't even champions making more money?

Bellator offered me a job. UFC never offered me an opportunity to fight. There's no question that UFC is the top. It's a machine. A lot of people, including myself, have helped build the UFC to where it is today.

I've been fighting in the UFC for five years now and it's about time I'm headlining a card.

Michael Bisping versus Georges St-Pierre is a money fight, and the UFC loves money fights.

Former Olympians also get paid to make appearances. Many of them won their medals in an era when Olympic success didn't go hand-in-hand with financial success.

My first MMA fight was July 2006 here in Brazil. I won a few fights here in Brazil, and then I got a chance to fight in the UFC, but they put me against the number one contender for the title at that time. It was Fabricio Werdum.

The fighters in the UFC are treated very well.

I want the best money, and obviously the highest ceiling that you can be the best is in the UFC. But yeah, I praise Bellator. They gave me a great offer.

The first time I saw a commercial for my fight was UFC 210.

In the UFC, at first we were like a family, but then it turned corporate. In Bellator, we're family.

I've told the UFC brass I want big fights: fights that are going to put money in their pockets and money in my pockets and staple me as one of the best of all-time.

People got to understand, the fighters at the top are the fighters that are supposed to get paid because they're the guys that are bringing people in, bringing eyes to the TV, getting pay-per-views buys, and putting people in the seats. I mean, that's what it comes down to.

My first contract I was offered by the UFC, or my second contract, it was 1-and-1, 2-and-2, 3-and-3. That's $12,000 for the year. Don't complain to me about fighter pay. It was $12,000 for a year, and it was exclusive.

The UFC are promoting a lot of cards and there are a lot of fights that people even don't know that will happen. But Wanderlei Silva vs. Dan Henderson would sell very well.

I made more from sponsorship than I did from fighting. I did that for the longest time.

I'm just asking for a fair shake. You see a lot of these guys, a lot of these other champions making what they're making. I'm not trying to take anything away from them, but I feel like I'm one of the more exciting fighters under contract in the UFC.

I'm so happy to have my first main event in the UFC.

Any fighter fighting in the UFC would take the opportunity to take a fight against a YouTuber and stand to make several million dollars.

Everyone knows who the money fight is, and everyone is begging for it. But at the end of the day, Conor's going to fight who he wants to fight.