Demetrious Johnson Calls Out UFC’s Double Standards: ‘Just Say It’s Entertainment’

Thanks to the UFC, MMA is now a global sport. Dana White's vision has turned the company into a multibillion-dollar business, and fighters all over the world want in, since the UFC promises the chance to fight the best of the best. Demetrious Johnson, though, has pointed to something that suggests the promotion doesn't always practice what it preaches.

Demetrious Johnson Exposes What He Sees as the UFC’s Biggest Problem

Johnson said that when White talks about keeping the best athletes on the planet, there is another side to it: the line that certain fighters aren't exciting. In his view, the UFC gets to make the matches and pick and choose what it wants to do. That goes back to a point Johnson has made before. To him, it isn't a sport, it's entertainment. DJ has no problem with that, but he just wants the UFC to say so.

In his words, “When I hear Dana say, 'We want to keep the best athletes on the planet,' then there's another side to it. 'They're not exciting'... You get to f*cking make the matches. They get to pick and choose what they want to do, which goes back to that one thing I said. It's not a sport, it's entertainment. Which is fine. Just say it's entertainment.”

In recent times, fans have watched fighters like Muhammad Mokaev and Michael ‘Venom’ Page get cut from the company, and it came as a shock because both had been winning fight after fight. Some of those fighters had boring styles, and a few had behavior issues. Meanwhile, entertainment over sport isn't the only thing the UFC is being talked about for right now. The fighter pay problem is back in the headlines, too.

Brendan Allen Shows His Support For Sean Strickland

Allen is backing Strickland for speaking out on fighter pay. He tipped his hat to the champ for pushing for more money, saying that when you look at the bigger picture and the numbers, fighters are underpaid. Allen also made it clear he isn't looking to get himself in trouble over it, at least not with the bosses.

“Hats off to Sean for speaking up and trying to get more money, because if you look at the scope of things, based on statistics, we are underpaid. I ain’t trying to get cancelled, at least not by the bosses,” Allen said.

The fighter pay issue isn't new. It has been a problem for years, with names from recent voices like Paulo Costa and Sean Strickland to Francis Ngannou and plenty of others raising it.