Dana White Disdains Former Champion Demetrious Johnson: 'Nobody Cares About Him'

D. White (right) disdains D. Johnson (left). Photo: Reproduction/YouTube Nicknotify

UFC president, Dana White, revealed that the public was not excited about the performance of the former flyweight champion (up to 56,7kg), Demetrious Johnson. In a recent interview with 'ESPN', the company's 'boss' said that, despite winning, the athlete did not please MMA fans. Demetrious currently plays for ONE FC.

See too

Five reasons to watch UFC 238, with Marlon Moraes fighting for the bantamweight belt

Jéssica Eye needs to take off her clothes to make weight, but guarantees fight for the flyweight belt at UFC 238

Henry Cejudo, the Olympic champion who wants to continue making history in the UFC

“I had a guy who was completely dominant. Every time he fought, he was active and took the fight to the end, but people didn't care. Nobody cared about Demetrious”, said Dana.

White, however, seems to bet his chips on the new champion of the category, Henry Cejudo, who beat Johnson in August of last year.

“Maybe Cejudo is the guy the fans really care about,” White revealed.

Henry, however, abandoned the flyweight division for now to try to fulfill his dream of becoming champion in the bantamweight division. The athlete will share the octagon with the Brazilian Marlon moraes this Saturday (8), in the duel valid for the belt, which has been vacant since TJ Dillashaw gave up after testing positive for banned substances in an anti-doping test in March this year.

If they emerge victorious, the flyweight division runs a serious risk of being eliminated from the organization. Ultimate has been signaling, for some time now, its desire to exclude the category from its list and, if the current champion wins and decides to remain among the bantamweights, everything indicates that the board's desire will finally come true.

Demetrious Johnson reigned supreme in the division for more than six years. The athlete, despite Dana's words, achieved a feat that is practically impossible nowadays. The fighter managed to defend his title on 11 occasions, surpassing the Brazilian's record Anderson Silva, who defended the middleweight title (up to 83,9kg.) 10 times.

Johnson transferred to ONE FC in October last year, in a transaction that involved an exchange between the former champion and Ben Askren. Demetrious debuted in the new company in March of this year, when he defeated Japanese Yuya Wakamatsu via submission in the second round. The athlete is now 32 years old and has 32 fights on his record, with 28 wins, three losses and one draw.