Demetrious Johnson doesn’t care if you’ll check out UFC 186. In an interview with Sherdog Radio (via Steve Hauser of Bloody Elbow), Johnson states:
I can’t talk about me getting frustrated. I really don’t care if people are like, ‘He sucks. I’m not buying that card.’ I’m like, ‘Good for you. Go watch something else.’ That’s totally fine.
[…]
Now, if people don’t want to tune in, that’s their f—–g bad. But they’re going to miss a kick-ass fight between me and Kyoji Horiguchi.
A Johnson-headlined card has suffered some of the lowest buy rates in UFC history. According to MMAPayout.com, his last two pay-per-view cards (174 and 178) brought in 115,000 and 205,000 buys, respectively.
UFC 186 was shaping up to be a good card with a TJ Dillashaw-Renan Barao rematch for the bantamweight title and the return of Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. However, due to injuries and legal issues, many fans are left wondering whether the $60 will be worth it. There have even been questions about whether the card should be cancelled, as Bleacher Report’s own Jeremy Botter and Jonathan Snowden discussed.
It is unfortunate that Johnson hasn’t caught on with MMA fans. He has the typical fighter story of a rough upbringing, and he defied all odds to be where he is now.
B/R’s Jordy McElroy makes a great point about how, unlike in other sports, those in combat sports are responsible for their own marketing efforts. McElroy also points out that while MMA purists are into the technical aspect of the sport, less hardcore fans are interested in the name value.
This may upset the hardcore fans of the sport, but our society is drawn to drama, as noted by our interest in reality TV. That’s what draws people to fighters who could be perceived as heels, such as Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Conor McGregor.
Johnson doesn’t have that “bad guy” persona. In fact, fighters such as Ian “Uncle Creepy” McCall called him a “nerd.”
Maybe all the smack talking by all the haters will bring out that fire in “Mighty Mouse.” He could create a spectacle by firing back at his doubters, but that doesn’t seem to be in his nature.
Johnson is an exciting fighter to watch, and combined with his persona, he could be the Manny Pacquiao of MMA. In order to achieve that, he will have to destroy fighters who have a higher marketing value. However, in the flyweight division, there is no one who could be his Mayweather.
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