Dominick Cruz reveals gift he received from Dana White for short notice Demetrious Johnson fight

By Harry Kettle - September 10, 2025
Dominick Cruz

Dominick Cruz has revealed that he received a gift from Dana White in order to agree to a short notice fight against Demetrious Johnson.

Back in 2011, Dominick Cruz was easily one of the best fighters in all of mixed martial arts. He was the king of the bantamweight division, and he hadn’t yet gone through a handful of his major injuries. In that year, he took on the rising star that was Demetrious Johnson in a short notice showdown for the belt.

RELATED: Dominick Cruz makes stunning claim that the UFC rankings are based on money, not merit

Cruz was largely able to control the fight and ultimately secured the decision victory. While both men have gone in different directions since that night, it’s certainly an interesting bout that a lot of fans tend to forget actually happened.

In a recent podcast between the two, though, Cruz revealed that Dana White had to really convince him to take the fight – and that he wound up with a pretty great gift from the whole thing.

Cruz reveals gift for fighting Johnson

“I remember I fought you, and Dana gave me a GTR for that fight, right,” Cruz told Johnson in a recent appearance on his YouTube channel.

“Yeah, what the f— I never got nothing,” Johnson replied.

“Yeah, I got lucky, but I had to fight you on one month’s notice after fighting Urijah Faber back-to-back on Versus, that no one was gonna watch and they’re like, ‘Alright, we’ll give you a GTR if you do this’ and it was a hard fight to go back-to-back against you,” Cruz continued.

Quotes via Bloody Elbow

What is your favorite memory from the career of Dominick Cruz? Do you have fond memories from this fight? Let us know your thoughts on this, BJPENN Nation!

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM


Topics:

Dana White Demetrious Johnson Dominick Cruz UFC