Former UFC champion Demetrious Johnson has revealed how much money he made for appearing in the promotion’s video games.
After initially joining the UFC at 135lbs, ‘Mighty Mouse’ became an instant star after the promotion opened up a flyweight class in 2012.
The 37-year-old was crowned the inaugural UFC Flyweight Champion later that year, and went on to make eleven consecutive title defences, a record that still stands to this day.
In addition to his illustrious career in combat sports, the avid gamer also runs a successful YouTube channel with more than 500,000 subscribers.
In a video posted on his channel earlier this week, Johnson detailed his involvement in the UFC’s video game series, produced by American gaming giant Electronic Arts.
![Demetrious Johnson revealed his total earnings from appearing in the EA UFC video games](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/05/11/18/84743055-0-Demetrious_Johnson_revealed_his_total_earnings_from_appearing_in-a-51_1715447997808.jpg)
Demetrious Johnson revealed his total earnings from appearing in the EA UFC video games
![The 37-year-old has been featured in all five installments of the popular gaming series](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/05/11/18/84742843-0-image-a-52_1715448013828.jpg)
The 37-year-old has been featured in all five installments of the popular gaming series
‘One day I’m at home, I’m playing video games, and I get an email stating, ‘Hey, since your likeness is being used a lot in the video game, we are sending you a check’,’ Johnson said.
‘Now, the very first check I got for being in the UFC video game was $25,000 (£20,000). A lot of you guys are like, ‘That was it?’ Guys, think about this, $25,000 to just be in a video game.
‘I don’t think Ryu [or] Ken has ever gotten a check for $25,000. [It’s] $25,000 for not getting punched in the face, $25,000 for just being in a video game because you people love using me as a character. So I was ecstatic.
Johnson has appeared in all five of EA Sports’ UFC titles and he explained that his payouts were directly proportional to the amount his likeness was used by players in the games.
‘How do they dictate how much money you’re going to get paid? I can’t dictate it. You guys actually dictate how much I get paid by how often you guys use me in the game. When you log onto your game, let’s say you’re playing offline mode or you’re playing online mode, each character you pick, it does a little tick and sends the data to the mainframe computer.
![Johnson revealed he was paid £20,000 for his first appearance in the series back in 2014](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/05/11/18/84742847-0-image-a-53_1715448044529.jpg)
Johnson revealed he was paid £20,000 for his first appearance in the series back in 2014
![The former flyweight champion added he has made a total of £58,000 from the games](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/05/11/18/84742849-0-image-a-54_1715448134737.jpg)
The former flyweight champion added he has made a total of £58,000 from the games
‘That’s how they keep track of it. They do it for all the games out there because they want to see what characters are being played the most and what game modes you like the most. They’re always tracking your data and keeping all the analytics.
‘I think that’s fair. It’s based on your popularity in the game. So if everybody and their mom keeps playing me, I will get a bigger check.’
The current ONE Flyweight Champion also revealed the cumulative total of his earnings from the UFC game series.
‘Now, after all that, from the first iteration of me being in the game in 2014 all the way to 2024, the total money I have made is a whopping $72,500. I think it’s absolutely amazing for me to make that type of money without getting punched in the face.’