Many folks have argued that Demetrious Johnson never received the fanfare he should have, during his historic run with the UFC, and Dana White has echoed that sentiment.
As you’ve almost certainly heard by now, recently it was confirmed that Johnson’s headed to ONE Championship, in exchange for undefeated welterweight, Ben Askren. The move comes not long after Johnson’s historic reign as flyweight champ was ended by Henry Cejudo, this past August.
Well, recently TMZ caught up with White, and when asked about Johnson’s departure, the UFC President said this (quote via MMA Fighting):
“If you look at it, the kid broke the record for the most title defenses (11),” White said. “I feel like he never really got the love and the respect that he deserved from the fans. I don’t know if he was always thrilled being here. So hopefully he’s a lot happier where he’s headed now. His longtime trainer and coach [Matt Hume] is an executive over there, so maybe he’ll be happier over there.”