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<h3><a href="/go=news.detail&gid=440243" target="_blank">
Johnson: After UFC, I never want to work again
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<a href="/go=news.detail&gid=440243" ><img class="photo" src="http://img.mixedmartialarts.com/method=get&rs=80&q=75&x=3&y=15&w=310&h=165&ro=0&s=demetrious-johnson-06-02-11-20-48-21-338.jpg" /></a>
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<p>A professional athletes time to make money is often short-lived. Some may compete for years, and some only have a short-window to compete at the highest level.</p>
Demetroius Johnson is the current UFC flyweight champion and the reason he fights is clear, to secure the future for himself and family financially:
“I want my son and my wife to have a good life and never have to worry about anything,” Johnson says. “I wasn’t handed anything in this sport, I’ve never had any easy fights and I’ve just been working hard to get where I am.”
Johnson, 27, has many miles remaining in his MMA career. But with the responsibility of a child, long- term planning is a reality. That’s why the 125-pound title, which he has defended twice, isn’t his top priority.
“I’m not going to set my goal to beat Anderson Silva’s title defense record,” Johnson says of the former middleweight champ, who defended his title 10 times. “My bigger end-game goal is when I’m done fighting, I never have to work again.”
MMA has a long way to go for that to happen considering how little attention these guys get. He'll have to keep winning for awhile because he might be just ahead of his time. Look at how 125 is basically a merry-go-round of title defenses and how these guys aren't even close to headlining a PPV. Either that or he really needs to get in on Dana's good book and get a PPV cut and be thrown on a card like GSP or Silva-Weidman... I'm specifically referring to Chael or Rousey... GSP's supporting co-main was Struve vs. McCorkle once!
I would really like to see the pay behind a fighter to see if this could work out. What is their real pay, what is the sponsorship behind someone like Demetroius Johnson; what do they have to pay their agent, couch; training partners ect.
What I am wondering lets say a fighter like Demetroius Johnson makes 200k for a fight; I am pulling that number out of my ass as he made 58k(including win bonus) plus 50k sub bonus plus on his last fight. Plus you have "Locker room bonus" and Sponsorship money.
But he has to pay his coaches, training partners, his manager plus his general expenses (travel, hotels ect) and then taxes. So what does he walk away with 125k? 100k
Also as a fighter it is not like you have a pension or even company sponsored retirement plan or health insurance so it is all on you.
So for him it might be possible I do not think a 125er will ever get the media attention as a heavier weight class. If he keeps winning and fights 2-3 times a year that is a big if (injuries ect) it is doable but he better be saving a big chunk of his earnings after each fight.
However I would think ex fighters at his level could become a trainer at a gym and earn decent money after their fighting life is over.
I'm happy for all of DJ's success and I know he's a great fighter, but I wish it was Creepy in his position. That 1st fight between the 2 was a mess that really changed both fighters career paths. If Ian somehow didn't win that fight (I scored it for him) there should've been a 4th rd due to it being a draw, as said in the rules. Anything could've happened in that tiebreaker Rd obviously, but Creepy had all the momentum and seemed have him figured out that particular night. Seems crazy at the time, but since the moment Creepy had DJ's back and was working the crown, both fighters went in complete opposite directions.
Gotta love people saying he can't do it because of what the UFC is paying him. If anyone knows how much he is actually making, it would be him. People don't talk about retiring in their mid 30's when they only make 58k-116k a year. Looks like you can add him to the list of fighters making way more than their reported payouts.
Zekolas - I would really like to see the pay behind a fighter to see if this could work out. What is their real pay, what is the sponsorship behind someone like Demetroius Johnson; what do they have to pay their agent, couch; training partners ect.
What I am wondering lets say a fighter like Demetroius Johnson makes 200k for a fight; I am pulling that number out of my ass as he made 58k(including win bonus) plus 50k sub bonus plus on his last fight. Plus you have "Locker room bonus" and Sponsorship money.
But he has to pay his coaches, training partners, his manager plus his general expenses (travel, hotels ect) and then taxes. So what does he walk away with 125k? 100k
Also as a fighter it is not like you have a pension or even company sponsored retirement plan or health insurance so it is all on you.
So for him it might be possible I do not think a 125er will ever get the media attention as a heavier weight class. If he keeps winning and fights 2-3 times a year that is a big if (injuries ect) it is doable but he better be saving a big chunk of his earnings after each fight.
However I would think ex fighters at his level could become a trainer at a gym and earn decent money after their fighting life is over.
depends on what kind of lifestyle they want to live. You can pretty much experience 99% of what any billionaire can experience with a 100k a month spending budget. so let's say 113k to be safe.
at an annual return of 8% plus a 15% capital gains tax you'd need 20 million invested to get around 113k a month.
If you can get a 15% annual return you'd need around half that (10m).
Having said that, some people can live their dream life with 40k a month, 20k or even 10k a month.
if you focus on buying experiences instead of "things" you dont need more than 100k a month... in fact you'll find it's virtually impossible to spend that much and you'll actually enjoy what you buy because the focus is on the "experience" and not the material "thing".
The last time someone said they were out to break Silva's record they got armbared in the first round and lost their belt. I like DJ but I'll take Benavidez in this one.
There's no reason Demetrius cant stop working in 5-9 years. If he has investments, pursues endorsements aggressively, and saves. Faber made bank off WEC checks. Just takes time.
