UFC President Dana White and UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson have not been on great terms as of late. After feeling pressured by the president to accept a fight with T.J. Dillashaw, “Mighty Mouse” decided to speak out against Dana White and the UFC.
Now, the UFC president has come forward with his thoughts on the situation.
In an interview with TMZ Sports, Dana White explained that Demetrious Johnson was not initially interested in a pay-per-view.
“He didn’t want pay-per-view. He wasn’t very confident in his abilities to sell pay-per-views. He has the lowest selling pay-per-view in the history of the UFC in the modern era. I think that a fight between him and T.J. Dillashaw would be something that people would actually be interested in and could sell pay-per-views and could make money. But, he absolutely refuses to fight the guy. It’s ridiculous.” White Said.
“I’m bullying you? How do you bully the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world?” White stated.
“The media claims he’s the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world. I think Conor McGregor is the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world. If you look at what that really means, what pound-for-pound means…Conor doesn’t give a (expletive). He’ll fight anybody, anywhere, anytime.
“Demetrious is the pound-for-pound best guy in the world then? Fight T.J. Dillashaw. Fight somebody that people will actually care about and be interested in.”
Responding to questions of the flyweight division in threat of being shut down, White stated “We’ve been talking about shutting down the flyweight division for about three years. He knows that we’ve talked about doing away with that division, had nothing to do with Demetrious. And never once did I threaten him to shut down the division.”
