In an interview with MMA Fighting on Monday, Demetrious Johnson stated that he did not know whether or not he’d be paid as a result of Ray Borg having to pull out last minute. While the fight by reset soon, there is the issue of whether Johnson is compensated for being ready.
Johnson recently retained First Round Management to handle his business dealings which include negotiating with the UFC. In the interview, Johnson said that First Round Management (the agency owned by Malki Kawa) was working with the UFC in terms of compensation. The UFC indicated to Johnson that they don’t usually pay athletes with they can get the rebooked quickly.
MMA Junkie notes that “the UFC is not contractually obligated to pay fighters whose opponents are unable to compete, the promotion often pays out show money when last-minute issues cancel a fight.”
You might recall that Tony Ferguson was not paid $250,000 show money when his fight with Khabib Nurmogomenov fell through due to Khabib’s needing to be hospitalized. Ferguson was offered a replacement fight but was not going to be compensated the same.
Payout Perspective:
It’s clear that the standard UFC bout agreements do not address issues if one of the fighters has to pull out during fight week. The fact that the UFC sometimes pays fighters, and sometimes it doesn’t, but nothing is specifically written shows its leverage in the contract. One would have hoped that Johnson’s management would have guaranteed his pay entering into the fight in the case that his opponent could not fight. They could have taken the Tony Ferguson incident as a lesson. Appears they did not.
Johnson is a champion and this is a disservice to him and shows the utter disrespect he has been talking about. Of course, he may be partly to blame here since his representation didn’t get written confirmation of payment. Even if the fight were to be given a quick turnaround date, there are expenses Johnson (as an independent contractor) incurred in the lead-up to this fight. What happens if the next date, Borg injures himself and has to pull out again. Are you going to hope for another quick turnaround? Bear in mind, Johnson is a world champion and not a guy opening an event on Fight Pass.
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