Dominant flyweight champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson recently made headlines when he claimed that UFC President Dana White threatened to get rid of the 125-pound division if Johnson didn’t accept a fight with former 135-pound champion TJ Dillashaw, who has expressed interest in dropping down in weight to meet Johnson after his scheduled UFC 213 (July 8, 2017) title fight with Cody Garbrandt fell through.
Johnson also released a lengthy statement on the matter earlier this week, citing White’s ‘bullying’ as his reason for speaking out. Such revealing comments from such a high level fighter have stirred up quite a bit of discussion within the MMA community. In fact, it turns out that this isn’t the first time a situation like this has played out.
Let’s take a look at five elite fighters Dana White has attempted to bully in order to receive what he wants:
Demetrious Johnson
Let’s start off with Johnson.
After Garbrandt suffered a back injury that forced him out of his highly anticipated UFC 213 title fight with Dillashaw, Dillashaw expressed interest in dropping down in weight to take on “Mighty Mouse”. White also liked the idea, telling ESPN.com that the promotion was targeting the bout for August.
Johnson, however, was never asked for his opinion on the matter and it turns out that he isn’t interested in the fight, which White clearly isn’t happy with.
If “Mighty Mouse’s” claims are true, White has since threatened to do away with the whole flyweight division if Johnson, who has said that he’d like to take on top flyweight contender Ray Borg, doesn’t accept a fight with Dillashaw.
White also had the following to say on the UFC Unfiltered Podcast regarding the manner:
“At the end of the day, you know how I am with that stuff, unfortunately for D.J. you don’t make the fights around here — I do,” White said. “So that’s the fight we’re pushing for. That’s the fight.”
Clearly, a bout between Johnson and Dillashaw is the most lucrative that the UFC could make in the 125-pound division and White appears to be doing everything in his power in order to get Johnson to sign on the dotted line.
The post Five Elite Fighters Dana White Has Tried To Bully appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.