“I Didn’t Ask for a F***ing Dime”- ONE Flyweight Champion Demetrious Johnson Turns Down Paddy Pimblett’s Podcast After Helwani Feud

ONE Flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson has weighed in on the ongoing feud between UFC’s Paddy Pimblett and media personality, Ariel Helwani. On a recent episode of his podcast, Pimblett lambasted Helwani, accusing him of making money off fighters. ‘The Baddy’ also said Helwani asked him to come on ‘The MMA Hour’ by canceling a paid appearance elsewhere. The 27-year-old suggested that Helwani should start paying fighters for these interviews. Pimblett’s claims have sparked a lot of conversations in the MMA community.

The former and inaugural UFC flyweight champion is one of the many who have commented on the issue. ‘Mighty Mouse’ did not like the way Pimblett went after Helwani. He weighed in on the issue during a recent stream on his YouTube channel.

Demetrious Johnson commented on the Pimblett-Helwani feud

During the stream, Johnson made it clear that he did not agree with Pimblett’s idea of paid interviews. Johnson said it would surprise him if he asked someone like Israel Adesanya to come on his show and the latter asked to be paid.

“If I was to reach out to Israel Adesanya and ask, ‘Man, can you come on my podcast?’… And I would hope and be shocked if Izzy says ‘yeah man, I’ll come on the podcast but you gotta pay me 20gs’. And I’d be like dude, why? Why would I pay you 20gs?”

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Johnson also revealed Pimblett had asked him to come on his podcast. However, neither did he ask to be paid nor did ‘The Baddy’ offer anything- “I didn’t ask for a f***ing dime. I didn’t ask for anything. He didn’t offer me anything either.”

While the flyweight legend supported trying to get paid, he did not encourage asking for remuneration for interviews.

 “I just think that it makes sense. If you have an opportunity to get paid, do something, take it. But don’t go around and try to ask people to pay you to be on the podcast or do interviews.”

‘Mighty Mouse’ also added that he would not be appearing on Pimblett’s ‘Chattin Pony’ podcast after the way he went at Helwani.

Johnson says ‘no’ to Pimblett’s podcast

During the stream, one fan asked Johnson if he would go on Pimblett’s podcast. Johnson responded he would not. He also added how Helwani was not anything at all like Pimblett described him.

“I don’t think I’ll do his podcast. I don’t think Ariel Helwani’s a rodent, … I don’t think he’s those words that he said. So I think it’s best that I don’t do his podcast.”

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Regardless, the ONE flyweight champion credited the scouser for being an amazing fighter. He also gave props to Pimblett for his success and for building his brand.

Pimblett will feature in the UFC 282 co-main event this weekend while Johnson’s next bout is in May 2023. He will fight rival Adriano Moraes in a trilogy bout.

What are your thoughts on DJ’s response to the Helwani-Pimblett feud? Let us know in the comments below.