Las Vegas — Four yeas ago, Donte Johnson walked into a gym at 290 pounds. One year ago, he took his first professional fight.
On Tuesday, as part of Dana White’s Contender Series 2025 Week 3, Johnson (6-0) won his way into the UFC, kicking off the card with a finish of Darion Abbey at heavyweight that took little more than a minute.
On his way out to the cage, fans at the UFC Apex were heard chanting “we don’t back up.” Crediting his team, “that’s the mantra,” explained Johnson, speaking following the event with media outlets including Cageside Press.
“That was a big thing that came up. It actually came from DC [Daniel Cormier], there was a video of DC where he’s like ‘we don’t back up, we don’t back up.’ And that’s true, we came here to fight. Obviously you want to be calculated, but at the end of the day we did come here to scrap, we came here to fight. So that’s where that ‘don’t back up’ comes from.”
Cormier, in fact, praised Johnson’s performance. The former two-division champ will no doubt enjoy seeing another fighter willing to fight across weight classes as well.
“I’m open to anything from 170 all the way up to heavyweight. I’m capable of getting down there,” stated Johnson. His opponent for DWCS, Abbey, was a taller big man. “That’s really as big as they come. 6’6, 2-whatever he weighed in at, 226. I’m ready for whatever. I’m ready for whatever. As we move along, we will make smarter business movies.”
Donte Johnson himself weighed in at less than 210, but can he make the welterweight limit? That’s a real question. “I bet you I can,” said Johnson, before admitting he never actually has. “I haven’t weighed 170 since middle school to be honest. I can make 185 for sure. 170, we’re going to have to see.”
As far as making the UFC after being a pro for only a year, the opportunity arrived a little ahead of schedule. “I knew I was going to be here, but I didn’t know I was going to be here this soon,” he stated.
Watch the full Dana White’s Contender Series 2025 Week 3 post-fight press conference with Donte Johnson above.
