Demetrious Johnson reveals how much money he made from being in UFC video games: 'It's pretty dope'

09/05/2024 22:23

Demetrious Johnson made a pretty nice chunk of change from the UFC’s popular series of video games.

When he’s not busy collecting gold medals and world championships, ‘Mighty Mouse’ is an avid gamer, playing everything from old school classics like the Mega Man X series to newer stream-friendly offerings like Grand Theft Auto V, Street Fighter, and Elden Ring.

Maybe we can get him to throw on some classic Castlevania one of these days.

Aside from playing video games, Demetrious Johnson has also been featured in a few — namely the UFC series from EA Games, the studio behind Madden, EA Sports FC, Battlefield, Dead Space, Dragon Age, and Mass Effect.

In a recent video on his YouTube channel, the former UFC flyweight world champion shared insight into just how much he made by allowing his likeness to be used by the video game franchise.

“The very first check I got for being in the UFC video game was $25,000,” Johnson said. “Now, a lot of you guys are like, ‘That’s it?’ but think about this. $25,000 just to be in a video game. I don’t think Ryu or Ken have ever gotten a check for $25,000. The next one that came out was UFC 3 and for this bad boy, the next check I ended up getting was $12,500. It’s a lot lower, but I was okay with that because the timeframe of the checks were coming every year or quarter. I wasn’t too worried about it because again, it was free money coming to me.

“After my Ray Borg fight, they offered me the opportunity to be on the front cover and that’s when they came out with the Icon Edition [of the game] with me on the front. For me to be on the cover, I signed an agreement and got a whopping $10,000. It’s pretty dope.”

Demetrious Johnson was featured in UFC 4 despite no longer being signed with the promotion

By the time UFC 4 was released, Demetrious Johnson was already long gone from the UFC, having been sent to ONE Championship as part of a history-making trade between the two global combat sports organizations.

Today, Johnson still sits as the ONE flyweight MMA world champion, but that didn’t stop EA from putting him in their next game due to his immense popularity with consumers.

“I leave the UFC,” Johnson continued. “I’m not part of the company anymore, but my character is still in the game and you guys are playing as my character. Now, the next check I get in the mail is another whopping $25,000 for being in the game and it’s absolutely amazing.

“To me, it’s something where your likeness is being used and I think it’s cool that the UFC or EA keeps paying the athletes for their likeness and that people are using me.”

In total, ‘Mighty Mouse’ banked just over 70k for allowing EA and the UFC to use his likeness.

“Me being in the game from 2014 to 2024, I have made is $72,500,” Johnson said. “I think it’s amazing for me to make that kind of money without getting punched in the face.”