It is often a tough hill to climb for many UFC fighters to get paid the same as the ones who are deemed as big draws. This has been the reason for many athletes departing from Dana White‘s promotion to go fight elsewhere to earn a hefty paycheck. However, former UFC champion and current ONE Championship flyweight king, Demetrious Johnson, who had some pay issues with the UFC as well, claimed that he also got the chance to make some bucks just because of being in a video game.
The UFC video game series has had 5 successful installments so far. Although Demetrious Johnson felt like he didn’t get recognized by the promotion because of his low pay, he was able to procure paychecks from his video game appearances. However, not all fighters are lucky and that’s what Arnold Allen had to say about this situation.
Arnold Allen reveals the truth about Demetrious Johnson’s statements
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During a recent YouTube video, Demetrious Johnson claimed to have received multiple paychecks amounting to hundreds and thousands of dollars from EA for his UFC video game characters. While some cheques were $25,000, others were as much as $10,000. The paychecks for these video games depend on how many times the gamers choose to fight as ‘Mighty Mouse’ or any other fighter, for that matter. The more they play, the more bucks enter fighters’ bank accounts. But this can be considered low payouts since there are certainly other big-time names who make more money than Johnson.
It is clear that the reality of this situation is not the same for every fighter in the UFC game. Every gamer has their favorites and they often select them to play, whether online or in offline modes. While Demetrious Johnson gets a monthly paycheck on most occasions, Arnold Allen claims to receive cheques once every three to four months. “Not monthly, quarterly maybe monthly for those higher earners. Don’t think as many people are using me as are DJ,” Allen tweeted.
Meanwhile, Demetrious Johnson is not in the UFC anymore. So who’s the most used fighter now? Well, just a few months ago, the UFC games publisher, Electronic Arts, shared a post on social media of the most popular fighters among gamers.
Conor McGregor and Valentina Shevchenko are among the gamers’ favorites
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Surely there wasn’t an inch of doubt that the fans would want to play as Conor McGregor in a video game. The trash-talking, suit-wearing, and outgoing former double champion has always been the fans’ choice, even though his recent UFC record has not been up to mark. After all, he’s the one who made this sport bigger and better for everyone. Hence, McGregor was ranked the first-choice male fighter for most UFC gamers, followed by Alex Pereira and Jon Jones.
Most used fighters in #UFC5 pic.twitter.com/gU9zFircm9
— EA SPORTS UFC (@EASPORTSUFC) December 29, 2023
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On the female front, Valentina Shevchenko, who was also the cover fighter for UFC 5, was the most-played women’s UFC fighter in the gaming community. Amanda Nunes and her former rival Alexa Grasso were ranked second and third, respectively. This means that these are the few fighters in the UFC who are also earning some extra bucks besides their fight paychecks.
What do you make of Arnold Allen’s response to Demetrious Johnson’s statements? Give us your understanding of this situation in the comments down below.