{"id":204027,"date":"2016-09-13T05:57:28","date_gmt":"2016-09-13T12:57:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?p=204027"},"modified":"2016-09-13T05:57:28","modified_gmt":"2016-09-13T12:57:28","slug":"demetrious-johnson-after-four-years-as-ufc-champion-i-cant-retire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/demetrious-johnson\/demetrious-johnson-after-four-years-as-ufc-champion-i-cant-retire\/","title":{"rendered":"Demetrious Johnson: After Four Years as UFC Champion, “I Can’t Retire.”"},"content":{"rendered":"

We’ve seen some huge paydays in MMA recently.<\/p>\n

Back in March, Conor McGregor became the first fighter in UFC history to be paid $1 million dollars, flat-out. Months later, at UFC 200, Brock Lesnar more than doubled that record with a disclosed purse of $2.5 million<\/a>. Then, in August, McGregor once again beat the record with a $3 million payday<\/a> for his rematch with Nate Diaz, who took home $2 million \u2013 coincidentally the same amount Fedor Emelianenko has apparently been offered<\/a> to fight for Rizin this December.<\/p>\n

Even several fighters on last weekend’s UFC 203 made bank<\/a>. Heavyweight title challenger Alistair Overeem took home $800,000. Miocic, who defeated Overeem, took home $600,000. And then, there’s pro wrestling veteran CM Punk, who rattled some cages with a $500,000 payday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Needless to say, the potential for huge paydays now exists in MMA. Unfortunately, not everybody is getting these paydays.<\/p>\n

Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson, the incredibly dominant UFC flyweight champion is one of these underpaid fighters. Johnson recently told Submission Radio<\/a> that, despite a reign of nearly four years, he still isn’t be able to retire.<\/p>\n

“You look at the NFL. Those guys want more money because they have a short opportunity to make as much money as possible,” Johnson said on the show. “I\u2019m only thirty now and I had ten years. I\u2019ve fought for the UFC since 2011. So what is that? Essentially, five years I\u2019ve competed in the UFC and I\u2019ve been the champion for almost four years. I can\u2019t retire right now. So if I was an NFL player and I played four years and won the super bowl four years in a row, I guarantee I can fucking retire. You\u2019re starting to see a lot of fighters like, \u2018We want more money so we can be able to retire eventually,\u2019 instead of, we get to 30 years-old and we\u2019re like, \u2018Alright, I think Costco has openings\u2019.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

Despite not making as much as he’d like, Johnson also outlined his plans for a super fight with UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz \u2013 a fight he says he’d expect a purse of $2 million to partake in. According to the flyweight champ, he’s more likely to get that whopping payday if he builds his name up a little longer.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s not the right time [for the super fight],\u201d Johnson explained. \u201cLet\u2019s say I beat The Ultimate Fighter Winner and then I\u2019m like, all right, I\u2019m going to go fight Dominick Cruz. And then you guys are like ok, sweet, he\u2019s going to do a super fight. But let\u2019s say I defeat The Ultimate Fighter, I defend [the title] again, that\u2019s nine [defenses], I do it again, that\u2019s ten and I\u2019m on the verge of Anderson Silva\u2019s record. Then I break Anderson\u2019s Silva when I have 11 consecutive title defenses. I break Anderson\u2019s Silva\u2019s record, and maybe then everyone is like \u2018ok, you\u2019re the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.\u2019 Dominick Cruz has defended his belt multiple times, he\u2019s built his name up, he\u2019s been active, and I\u2019m like \u2018boom, now it\u2019s time for the super fight.\u2019 I think if I do that path it\u2019ll sell way better and do way better numbers than if I was just like \u201cok, I\u2019m gonna fight you now, Dom’.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Johnson and Cruz first met at bantamweight, back in 2011. On that night, Cruz successfully defended his title with a unanimous decision win. Not long thereafter, Johnson would become the champion of the new flyweight division, where he would rattle off eight consecutive title defenses \u2013 nearly all of them dominant. Cruz, meanwhile, would be stripped of his title after years on the injury list, only to return and reclaim that title from TJ Dillashaw in early 2016.<\/p>\n

Are you interested in seeing these two greats fight each other, and do you think they’d deserve big money to do it? Sound off, PENN nation!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We’ve seen some huge paydays in MMA recently. Back in March, Conor McGregor became the first fighter in UFC history to be paid $1 million dollars, flat-out. Months later, at UFC 200, Brock Lesnar more than doubled that record with a disclosed purse of $2.5 million. Then, in August, McGregor once again beat the record […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54430,"featured_media":129007,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[10171],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nDemetrious Johnson: After Four Years as UFC Champion, "I Can't Retire." | BJPenn.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/demetrious-johnson\/demetrious-johnson-after-four-years-as-ufc-champion-i-cant-retire\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Demetrious Johnson: After Four Years as UFC Champion, "I Can't Retire." | BJPenn.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We’ve seen some huge paydays in MMA recently. 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