"He thought Conor McGregor was the P4P best fighter"- Demetrious Johnson gets candid about past difference of opinion with Dana White

Demetrious Johnson and Dana White have had their fair share of disagreements over the years. 'Mighty Mouse' has now opened up about a notable difference of opinion between himself and White from the past.

Johnson recently appeared on the Built for Growth podcast hosted by ex-UFC women's bantamweight champion Miesha Tate. 'Cupcake' brought up Johnson being traded by the UFC to ONE Championship in exchange for Ben Askren in 2018.

Tate also asked him about his relationship with White. Johnson opined it was "great." The 38-year-old feels White doesn't think about him, and he too doesn't think about the UFC CEO, something he believes is good.

Johnson recounted that even when he was in the UFC, he and White didn't talk as much, adding that he didn't expect to because the MMA promoter had around 500 fighters to deal with on the roster. 'Might Mouse' recalled simply showing up, doing his job, and going home.

The ex-UFC fighter explained that he felt it was a good thing he didn't talk much to White, adding that he'd have been in trouble if he did.

Upon being questioned about the supposed bad blood between him and the UFC boss, 'Mighty Mouse' revisited a noteworthy disagreement he had with Dana White over former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor being the P4P (pound-for-pound) best fighter.

Johnson said:

"Sometimes, I think a lot of people look at it as, like, when you and your employer have a disagreement, it doesn't mean you are at end or are mad at each other. It's okay to disagree to agree with each other. Right? At the time, when I was in the UFC when I was a champion, he thought Conor McGregor was the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world. I disagree with him. I was like, 'I don't think he is.'"

He added:

"He [McGregor] is great. He's done amazing things for the sport. But there's always -- there's been people out there who've been able to finish him and done a lot better than him. So, but yeah, I mean, I have no problem, no quarrel with Dana White whatsoever, and I'm sure it's a mutual feeling."

Watch Johnson discuss the topic below (46:40):

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Dana White addressed Demetrious Johnson's MMA retirement

Demetrious Johnson announced his MMA retirement in Sept. 2024. During an interview with Grind City Media's John Morgan, White was questioned about whether 'Mighty Mouse' could be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame someday.

White affirmatively replied, "Absolutely." White also alluded to there being no feud between them and wished the inaugural UFC flyweight champion well:

"If you could go back to when he was here, I was defending him from the fans. So, who's defended Demetrious Johnson more than me? Yeah, no, good for him. Incredible career he had. And, yeah, I've never had a problem with Demetrious Johnson."

Check out White's comments below:

Johnson subsequently appeared on The Ariel Helwani Show and expressed his respect for Dana White. Nevertheless, he emphasized that White's past assertion about him not wanting pay-per-view points was incorrect.

Furthermore, taking to his YouTube channel, 'Mighty Mouse' implied that he disagreed with White's claims of having defended him when he was in the UFC.

Watch Johnson's YouTube video concerning Dana White's claims below: