Former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson has revealed how much money he has generated from being in the official EA Sports video game series.
Not only did Demetrious Johnson change the game inside the octagon, but the former UFC champion continues to provide fascinating insights into the lives of top MMA fighters through his social media; including how athletes make money through officially licensed sports video games.
Demetrious Johnson shares how much money he’s made from UFC games
From being in every iteration of the UFC video game series starting from 2014 to even being the cover athlete for the official Icon Edition, Demetrious Johnson has shared that he made a grand total of $72,500.
Yet Johnson also revealed, via his official YouTube channel, that the money doesn’t come from just selling his likeness to EA Sports, the developers of the series, but as a result of more fans playing his character in the game; driving up popularity to the level that a check is sent his way.
“You sign off an agreement of your likeness and when you sign, there is no money in it whatsoever. [Then] one day, I’m sitting at home [and] I’m playing video games and I get an email stating that ‘Hey since your likeness is being used a lot in the video game, we are sending you a check.’”
Johnson shared that the very first check he received was a payment of $25,000.
“You guys actually dictate how much I get paid by how often you guys use me in the game… I think it’s fair, it’s based on the popularity of the character in the game so if everybody and their mom keeps playing me, then I will get a bigger check.”
‘Mighty Mouse’ described receiving a second payment of $12,500 for UFC 3 as akin to “free money just coming to me,” before explaining that after his viral submission of Ray Borg, he signed an agreement to be on the cover of UFC 3’s Icon Edition for $10,000.
By the time that UFC 4 rolled around, Johnson had left the company to sign with ONE Championship, but continued to receive money (a total sum of $25,000) thanks to a large number of fans still playing as his character:
“It’s absolutely amazing because to me, it’s something where your likeness is being used and I think it’s cool that the UFC or EA keeps on paying the athletes for their likeness and if people are using me.”
In total, Johnson has so far received $72,500 from the UFC video game series:
- UFC 2 – $25,000
- UFC 3 – $12,500
- UFC 3 Icon Edition – $10,000
- UFC 4 – $25,000
Yet the flyweight GOAT is still expecting more checks to come through the mail eventually, noting that he hasn’t received any revenue from the recently released UFC 5 game – which launched in October 2023.
“Now I have not got a check yet for UFC 5 which I am in the game, obviously when you guys use me as a character and my popularity is still good, I will also receive another check from EA or Zuffa or whoever is in charge now.”
“I think it’s absolutely amazing for me to go and make that type of money without getting punched in the face and you guys are using my character in the UFC game – I appreciate you.”
What is the infamous ‘UFC Cover Curse’ and who’s fallen to it?
Whilst such money generated from a video game is remarkable from a fighter’s perspective, that doesn’t mean that gracing the cover of an official UFC video game doesn’t come with its downsides – notably the infamous ‘Cover Curse’.
This is a phenomenon that’s been picked up primarily on the internet where as soon as a fighter appears on the cover of an official UFC video game title, they immediately or shortly after, lose their next fight – typically in dramatic fashion.
Alexander Gustafsson (UFC 1) lost in his hometown by vicious KO to Anthony Johnson; Conor McGregor (UFC 2) lost to Nate Diaz via submission 10 days after the game’s release; with Ronda Rousey (also UFC 2) suffering defeat at the hands of Amanda Nunes in her very next bout.
Conor McGregor returned for the cover of UFC 3 before being submitted by Khabib Nurmagomedov in his next fight, Jorge Masvidal (UFC 4) was knocked out by Kamaru Usman, and whilst Israel Adesanya (UFC 4) did win his next fight, he also lost to Jan Blachowicz shortly after.
UFC 5 also didn’t exorcise the curse, with Alexander Volkanovski losing to Islam Makhachev just one week before the video game’s release, which also launched several months after co-cover star Valentina Shevchenko dropped her title to Alexa Grasso earlier in the year.