UFC president admits Johnson 'never got the love and respect he deserved'

D. White hopes the fighter will be happier at ONE FC. Photo: Reproduction/Youtube ufc

Demetrious Johnson is already leaving for ONE Championship after exchanging athletes with the UFC. ‘Mighty Mouse’ made history in Ultimate by defending the flyweight belt 11 times and thus becoming the organization’s dominant champion. Even with so many achievements, the fighter was not a favorite among MMA fans. In an interview with the North American website TMZ Sports, UFC president Dana White admitted that the athlete did not receive due recognition from the franchise's admirers.

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“If you analyze it, he [Demetrious] broke the record for title defenses. I feel like he never got the love and respect he deserved from his fans. I also don’t know if he was always excited to be here [UFC], so I hope he’s a lot happier with where he’s going now [ONE],” White said.

With Johnson's departure, the UFC will have welterweight Ben Askren on its roster. According to Dana, the athlete does not yet have a defined opponent for his debut. However, he is willing to have a ‘Funky’ duel with one of the TOP 5 in the category.

“I don't know, we're still working on it. Obviously, he's going to enter the welterweight division – and he's undefeated, he's their champion. So we're excited about that. He will definitely fight someone in the top 5”, concluded Dana.

In recent days, Askren has challenged Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor McGregor, Georges St-Pierre and other athletes from the organization.