Charles Johnson 'Irritated' with Consistent Placement on UFC Apex Shows

UFC Fight Nights at the promotion’s Apex facility in Las Vegas have recently faced criticism from both fans and fighters.

After lightweight fan favorite Renato Moicano recently claimed that "nobody likes the Apex," flyweight Charles Johnson has followed suit by complaining about repeatedly fighting at the venue. Following his promotional debut at UFC London in July 2022, all of Johnson’s next five outings have been at the Apex.

As the Missouri native goes into another Fight Night clash against Azat Maksum this weekend, “InnerG” feels he has been deprived of the full UFC experience. Apart from not getting an opportunity to compete in front of an arena, even Johnson’s request for a Fight Night ticket for his wife was allegedly turned down more than once.

“For a time, I enjoyed it but now I’m just kind of irritated with it because I don’t feel like I’ve been afforded the full UFC experience. My whole career is gonna be in the f—king Apex, you know? No fans. I can’t even get my wife in there and my baby girl ‘cause the tickets are f—king $1,600 plus,” Johnson said in an interview with Jamie Theo.

“They say they don’t have any tickets every time I fight to give me one ticket for my wife. So, it’s pretty irritating. That’s the most irritating aspect of it. For it to be in-house and stuff like that I feel like you could give one seat for my wife or a family member.”

While the Apex might seem better suited for fighting due to its quiet atmosphere, fighters aren’t seemingly safe from hecklers there.

“Outside of that, it’s always this one heckler guy in there, he’s always heckling people,” Johnson said. “A—hole guy, got money, so he can be in there. It’s alright. It’s cool. I like the intimacy of it, being able to hear him breathing and hear everything and stuff, but after being in the arena in Toronto and in Jacksonville, Vegas, it’s something about it. I love the fans, man. I love that energy... When I’m in the Apex, it feels like a spar session. It doesn’t feel like a real fight a lot of times.”

Johnson will look to bounce back from a three-fight slump when he faces undefeated Maksum at UFC Fight Night 235 on Saturday.