Demetrious Johnson says CM Punk earning more than him is 'sheer nonsense'

Flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson has revealed he was not surprised at how much former professional wrestler CM Punk made in his UFC debut.

The Chicago native made his long-awaited debut against Mickey Gall at UFC 203 and was utterly dominated by the young prospect, losing via a rear naked choke submission in a little over two minutes.

Despite the disappointment, Punk earned $500,000 on the night — or $3,731.34 per second during his bout — while his wife, AJ Lee may have let slip that the total figure was actually $1m.

Johnson, who is the pound-for-pound best fighter in the UFC and recently equaled Anderson Silva's title defence record of 10 with his win over Wilson Reis, is yet to be paid as much as Punk as he recently spoke about his frustration.

"There is not another sport in the world where you can be the best at it but not get paid the best," Johnson said, as quoted on ESPN. "I never wanted to say this before, but I don't care anymore, and it's just facts: When [former WWE star] CM Punk [Phil Brooks] signed with the UFC, people asked me how I felt about it, and I said, 'CM Punk will probably make more money than I do on his very first fight.' And he did. I think his payout was $500,000."

"I have nothing against CM Punk, but if you look at the sheer nonsense of that, it doesn't make sense. I know you have to look at the business standpoint, that he's going to sell a lot of tickets, but he can't fight! That's why I've said the UFC should just try to sign that 'Cash Me Ousside' girl, because she'll talk s**t and probably outsell everybody."

"Mighty Mouse" also spoke about how he still loves MMA, but is concerned with how talent is not appreciated as much anymore by the fans as opposed to brash trash-talking.

"I still love the sport," he added. "I love training every day. My relationship with the business aspect of it, how they go about putting money where, has changed. I guess I'm bothered by how fans react to certain things and how they're interested in certain things over true talent. I've always appreciated talent over everything else."

"People ask me, 'Oh, what do you think about the Conor McGregor-Floyd Mayweather fight?' And there are two ways to answer it. My truthful answer is that I would rather see Conor defend his UFC belt and that I don't think him going to boxing makes any sense. I want to see him use all the skills he has, and I want to see Mayweather fight the best of his sport, like Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez or Gennady Golovkin.

"Another answer I could give would be, 'F**k Conor! F**k Floyd! I'll beat them both on the same night, they both suck!' ... and people would eat that up way more than a man giving his honest, truthful opinion. That's what's sad about this sport, and social media, today."