Johnson made a controversial statement against UFC bosses (Photo: Facebook/UFC)
In April this year, after completing Wilson reis No. UFC Kansas City, flyweight Demetrious Johnson equaled the record of Anderson Silva and became the most dominant champion in Ultimate history, with ten consecutive title defenses. Despite his historic achievements, the DJ's relationship with his bosses is not good. According to the fighter, Dana White, president of the organization, and Sean Shelby, the franchise's matchmaker, have been pressuring him to accept fights he doesn't agree with, even threatening to never put the champion to fight in a pay-per event again. -view.
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“Mick Maynard, UFC flyweight and bantamweight matchmaker, called me and offered a fight against Ray Borg. But he said Sergio Pettis was a more marketable name, as well as coming off a longer winning streak. Mick took the proposal to Dana, who denied it and said I had no choice: it would be Ray Borg. It was Dana's determination, the company's determination and my only chance to have a PPV in the flyweight division. I accepted, but I didn't think it was fair, since cody garbrandt He's been saying he wants to move down the division and fight for the title, a fight I would accept. I told Mick that I would accept a fight with Ray Borg, but I wanted more fights on PPV. Dana and Sean Shelby responded that they would deny me all flyweight PPV fights, giving me no other choice. Even with all of this, I decided to accept the fight with Ray Borg and accept Dana and Sean's unfair situation and despicable treatment of me. I wanted a reason not to give me PPV fights in the future. Sean Shelby called me and said that smaller fighters don't sell and that a fight against Cody wouldn't be sellable. I disagreed and I think this would be a fight with popular appeal with a small effort from the company's marketing”, said Demetrious, in an interview with the 'MMA Fighting' website.
In recent weeks, Johnson displeased the company by refusing a confrontation against TJ Dillashaw, former bantamweight champion. Annoyed, the fighter explained the reasons why he did not accept the duel.
“When Cody hurt his back, the fight with Ray Borg fell through and Dana wanted me to fight TJ Dillashaw. I disagreed for many reasons: 1) TJ has never fought at flyweight and it's unlikely he will make weight. 2) They said a fight with Cody wouldn't be sellable, so why would a fight with TJ be? 3) Dillashaw is not a flyweight nor a division champion, even getting knocked out by a guy (John Dodson) which I won twice. 4) Ray Borg and I had already agreed to the fight, which the UFC demanded dictatorially, while denying me PPV fights”, explained DJ, who added.
“My reasons made Dana angry. He said that I'm going to fight TJ, once again without giving me another option, and that if I insisted on Ray Borg, he would end the UFC's flyweight division. He stated that I was taking away an opportunity from TJ. Sorry, but this is my career. I'm not here to make friends. The next day, Dana White told the press that I was crazy and that I didn't want to fight Dillashaw, in an obvious attempt to intimidate me in the media and tarnish my reputation. I have nothing against TJ, but I think he should fight at flyweight once and prove he can make weight.”
Finally, Demetrious criticized the way the UFC proposed the duel against Dillashaw. For Johnson, only a good financial guarantee would make him face TJ, an idea promptly denied by the company.
“The UFC wanted to force me to face TJ and I said that if he didn't reach the required weight for flyweight, the fight would go down and I would guarantee Dillashaw's payment. It would be the fairest. But they said Ray Borg would be on the card to replace TJ if the need arose. So who do I train for? Is this a professional event or an amateur one, where I just find out who I'm going to fight with right away? Obviously there was no guarantee and they just wanted to force me to do something that wasn't good for my career. The fact that Ray Borg is a “step” shows the lack of respect they have for our preparation for a fight at this level. They want me to fight TJ without any guarantees. This is typical of the broken promises and bullying I suffered my entire UFC career,” he concluded.
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