When Dappy from N-Dubz is fighting a hologram of Abraham Lincoln for a UFC belt in a few years’ time, we’ll all regret not paying more attention to Demetrious Johnson.
If every person that claimed they were a fan of Johnson acted accordingly, the pound-for-pound greatest fighter on planet Earth wouldn’t be resigned to headlining Fox Cards and playing the role of support act on PPV events.
The truth is, most fans would prefer to watch Kimbo Slice (RIP) and Dada 5000 engage in one of the sloppiest, least technical versions of this beautiful sport than any Mighty Mouse fight.
Over two-and-a-half million tuned into watch Bellator 149’s co-main event. In comparison, Johnson’s last title defence against Tim Elliott on the TUF 24 finale card drew less than half of that. People are more interested in watching circus sideshows than the sport being performed to the highest possible level.
It’s the same reason why Stipe Miocic enjoyed a nice PPV point bump when he headlined a card that featured CM Punk’s debut. No one really knows what it is about modern culture that makes humans so captivated by these characters, but Johnson puts it down to an infatuation with drama.
As he explained on a recent episode of the MMA Hour he’ll never be able to sell as many PPV’s as a viral celebrity. As he sees it, the 13-year-old ‘Cash Me Outside’ girl Danielle Bregoli, who became a ‘cewebrity‘ after a clip of her on Dr Phil went viral.
“I guarantee you if you get her some gloves and put her in the Octagon, she would be the highest selling pay-per-view fighter in the world. She’d probably do way more numbers than Ronda. Just because she brings drama and negativity to wherever she goes.”
The comment was meant in jest, but the sad thing is, he’s probably right.
