Dana White Says Demetrious Johnson Will Get His Belts

MMA Junkie reports that before UFC on FOX 24, UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson said that he wanted the UFC to give him a new belt for each of his successful title defenses, so he can make his own version of photos that boxing champions have made. That list includes Andre Ward and this photo from Floyd Mayweather:

It took 19 years but they'll talk about it forever. #tbe #tmt www.themoneyteam.com

A post shared by Floyd Mayweather (@floydmayweather) on Oct 21, 2015 at 10:30am PDT

Johnson said he was “pissed off” at the situation, as he was only given one belt to take home. He’s up to ten defenses as of last Saturday’s submission win over Wilson Reis, tying the record.

He said: “I just want to recapture that photo that Floyd Mayweather has done, Andre Ward just did it. All my belts. I’ll even bring my amateur belts just to show the process I’ve went through to get all these belts. I mean, 10 title defenses? Sometimes when I take a step back and smell the roses, I’m like, ‘Damn, I’ve been a champion since 2012, in September, when I won it in Toronto, Canada. I’m still here today.’”

UFC President Dana White has replied to Johnson’s complaint, reassuring him that he’ll get his belts. He told UFC.com: “I’m going to get him his belts. He’s definitely keeping the belt from tonight, and I guess I’ve got some catching up to do. Listen, that’s not the way it works. People don’t win belts every time. You defend your title, and you keep your belt. If we’re handing out belts every single defense here – that’s a lot of money. It would be a lot of money to get him eight more belts. To be honest with you, we don’t even have eight more belts. We order them as we do events. It’s going to be a little bit of back up on his belts, but we’ll get it done.”

Johnson said after his defense against Reis that he would take that belt home, giving him two. However he still expects belts from his past and future title defenses. He added: “I’m taking this mother(expletive) home. I’ve got two belts. Hopefully they send it to me, but I’ve got my two belts, one for (my son) Tyron and one for (my other son) Maverick so they don’t have to fight over one.”