Las Vegas — Middleweights Donte Johnson and Cody Brundage had the distinction of being the first UFC fighters to compete on broadcast network CBS at UFC 326 on Saturday.
As part of the promotion’s deal with Paramount+, under the same ownership umbrella as CBS, the card saw an hour of prelims, and an hour of the main card, broadcast on network television.
Johnson (8-0) got the decision win, but took some heavy criticism both for the lack of action in the bout, and for fighting with his chin up, and hands down at times.
“Ain’t nobody perfect. Ain’t nobody perfect. So to go out there and think that you’re going to have a perfect fight is pretty delusional,” Johnson said following the fight, speaking with media outlets including Cageside Press. “I’ve been fighting four years, going on five years now. That man had 15 fights in the UFC, he’s had almost double the amount of fights I’ve had in my entire life.”
“Obviously I didn’t do it on purpose, but we got life and we got breath in our lungs. We’re going to go back, and we’re going to get better.”
Johnson admitted he was not surprised that the bout came down to a split decision. “I’m going to give the man his flowers. We still got the W, we still came out victorious like I said I would,” he stated, adding “He’s a dog. He’s a dog. People can say what they want to say, but I want to see them get in there. You go forward, you get in there and fight.”
The fight was Johnson’s second in the UFC, and his first in a major arena. “It was wild. It was surreal, it was surreal. But it was beautiful, I enjoyed every second of it,” he told Cageside Press of the experience.
“Pressure does two things, right? It busts pipes, and it makes diamonds. And I’m going to shine. I’m going to shine my whole career, I’m going to shine until I die.”
As for being on CBS, “I didn’t feel any unnecessary pressure,” Johnson said. Addressing the rocky showing, he added that “I just didn’t go out there and perform the way I know I can perform.”
“We’re going to be back, and we’re going to be better. First big show, I’m grateful, let’s run it back. Let’s run it again. I’ll be ready as soon as they give me a call.”
There was one unexpected benefit of the fight being aired on CBS.
“I’ve got people locked up that were able to watch the fight,” Johnson said with a laugh. “It works out, it works out.”
Watch the full UFC 326 post-fight press conference with Donte Johnson above.
