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Haist
Former
Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight
Kajan
Johnson has been officially let go by the promotion after
suffering back-to-back losses to
Islam
Makhachev in July and most recently to
Rustam
Khabilov in Moscow last month.
The 34 year-old had actually gone on a four-fight win streak inside
the Octagon before his losing skid and had attempted to renegotiate
his contract with the UFC before his fight against Khabilov.
“Ragin’” was unsuccessful, with the UFC opting for him to fight out
his current contract.
After the loss, the UFC informed Johnson they would not re-sign him
and he recently spoke to
Bloody Elbow on the negotiations
believing the promotion had no intention of offering him a new
contract.
“I’m pretty sure they were planning on letting me go, anyway,”
Johnson said. “I had pretty much rectified and accepted that that
was gonna be my last fight in the UFC. I was still talking to Sean
and trying to get a new deal done, but they just said it didn’t
align with them.
“They said they didn’t really know what to do with me at that
point,” Johnson added. “I was hopeful, but I realized it was a
very, very slim chance — maybe one-percent chance — that I would
get re-signed.”
While it was not expressly given as a reason for his release,
Johnson, like fellow former UFC fighter
Leslie
Smith, is a vocal advocate for fighters’ rights and a member of
Project Spearhead, an organization working to unionize UFC
fighters. A return to the Octagon is not out of the question
according to Johnson, although with the number of fighters vying
for a spot on the roster, he doesn’t like his chances.
“There’s just so many fighters out there,” he said. “They still
wouldn’t need me. I’m not
Conor
McGregor. I’m not gonna fill a f-cking stadium. I don’t
represent an entire demographic of people that are gonna fly across
the world and come to the show.”
In his last fight for the UFC, Johnson trolled UFC President Dana
White at the weigh-ins when he went to shake his hand, withdrawing
it when White put his out to the delight of fans. It was all fun
and games as Johnson and White laughed it off and shook hands
after.