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Michael Johnson wants to 'get paid' like Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor
Ahead of his fight on Saturday night against Dustin Poirier in Texas, Michael Johnson commented that his last loss to Nate Diaz still burned after watching him go onto earn multi-millions against Conor McGregor in a pair of bouts this year.
Now Johnson wasn't jealous — in fact he applauded the Stockton, Calif. native for getting a huge payday for the fights with McGregor — but he also knows how much life could have changed for him with a win over Diaz.
So Johnson made a huge statement by smashing Poirier by TKO in the first round before immediately calling for the biggest fights possible to get him paid.
Johnson later told FOX Sports at the post fight show that he would like to compete at the upcoming UFC 205 card in New York against another top ranked lightweight but more importantly he wants to earn a big paycheck for his performance.
"Anthony Pettis, Khabib (Nurmagomedov) if he's not fighting for the title. Like I said, I want the best of the best in this division and I want the guys at the top," Johnson said.
According to the disclosed pay provided by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, McGregor and Diaz made a combined $5 million for their fight at UFC 202 in August. Those figures don't account for the additional salary both fighters are expected to earn from pay-per-view revenue from the show.
As far as matchups go, Johnson specifically mentioned a fight with Nurmagomedov, who is arguably the No. 1 contender in the lightweight division already as well as a potential matchup with Pettis, who actually said he was interested in the fight after Saturday night's card was finished.
Pettis just recently made the move down to featherweight where he picked up a win over Charles Oliveira, but the former lightweight champion said his career at 155-pounds wasn't finished. It sounds like Johnson would be interested in the fight if Pettis really did want to return to the lightweight division.
"If Anthony Pettis fights 55, he dropped to 45 didn't he? I'm pretty sure I called him out a long time ago and he went to 145. If he wants to fight, Anthony, I'm your man. I'm all for it," Johnson said. "He's a great ex-champ and he's a great guy, I would love to fight him."
Going into Saturday night, Johnson was ranked No. 10 in the lightweight division according to the UFC's official ranking system, but he doesn’t put a lot of stock into those numbers.
Johnson has gone 5-2 over his past seven fights with one of those two losses coming in a very controversial decision to Beneil Dariush in August 2015. Outside of that, Johnson has picked up impressive wins over Edson Barboza, Joe Lauzon and now Poirier in his latest trip to the Octagon.
"Like I always say, these rankings mean nothing," Johnson said. "The only spot that matters is the top spot and the champion, but I beat two guys that are in the top five already. Dominant performance over Dustin (Poirier), I think I'm at the top of the division.
"If nobody's ready to fight for that title, I'm right there for a No. 1 contender fight. I'll take on all competitors right now."
@ufc I'll take @FollowTheMenace Or @josealdojunior
— Anthony Pettis (@Showtimepettis) September 18, 2016
