After seizing his opportunity on the latest episode of Dana White’s Contender Series, Donte Johnson spoke to Fighters Only’s E. Spencer Kyte about his whirlwind journey to the big leagues.
Donte Johnson’s phone buzzed on Monday, August 18. It was his manager, Iridium Sports head Jason House, asking if he could fight at heavyweight in eight days. The Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, native confirmed he could, and two days later he was on a plane to Las Vegas, rolling into the UFC Performance Institute to check all the boxes required to compete on Contender Series the following Tuesday night.
Less than a week after touching down in the Nevada desert, Johnson strode into the Octagon and stopped Darion Abbey in the first round, registering his sixth consecutive first-round finish and impressing the UFC President enough to earn a contract. Not bad for a 26-year-old who made his professional debut just 53 weeks earlier.
“Naw man,” Johnson said with a laugh when asked if he had any sense he’d reach the UFC roster barely a year into his pro career. “I’ll be honest with you: I knew it was gonna happen — God is always on my side and instructing me in every way, so I knew it was gonna happen. I work hard and I pray even harder, so I knew it was gonna happen, but I didn’t know it was gonna happen this fast. I didn’t know I was gonna get that call last Monday and we’d be sitting here today.
“I didn’t know it was gonna happen that fast, but over the years I’ve been training, these last four years, that’s what God’s been preparing me for — these moments; to be able to show up and be prepared for when it really matters, and that’s what we had to do on Tuesday. I got the call from my boss Jason House last Monday night, and then we flew out Wednesday morning, and from there, the ball has been rolling nonstop.
“But that’s why we stay ready though,” he added. “That’s why we don’t take many breaks, take too many cheat meals, because in this business it’s super necessary to always stay ready, especially at a certain level. You never know when that opportunity is gonna come.”
A couple of days before House reached out, Johnson nearly indulged in one of those rare but well-earned cheat meals, only for something to convince him to press pause.
“I almost went off the rails, almost went to Pizza Ranch — all-you-can-eat buffet of pizza and chicken — but something told me, ‘Not yet! Not yet!’” he said through a grin, stationed outside in the sunshine, back home after a whirlwind two-week Vegas adventure. “Come to find out I got that call, and it was, ‘Good thing I didn’t go to Pizza Ranch.’”
In truth, Johnson probably would have been fine had he hit the buffet, as he had plenty of room to spare when it came to making the heavyweight limit. The fight with Abbey was booked at catchweight, both because of the short-notice nature of the matchup and because Johnson simply doesn’t fit the typical mold of a heavyweight mixed martial artist.
While Abbey stands 6-foot-2 with an 81-inch reach, Johnson is a compact 5-foot-9 and looks like he could make light heavyweight with ease.
“I was 201 pounds the day before weigh-ins; I had to eat myself to 209 in order to make weight to fight at heavyweight,” admitted Johnson, who quickly closed the distance against Abbey, sat him down along the fence, and secured the stoppage.
As he stepped into the cage, it was obvious he was undersized not just compared to Abbey but for the division as a whole. The broadcast duo of Dan Hellie and Daniel Cormier even wondered aloud whether a move to light heavyweight was in Johnson’s future — and the online community made sure he knew there were other options as well.
“You know how the Internet is, man?” he said, laughing. “‘He don’t belong at heavyweight!’ Man, I know I don’t belong at heavyweight! That was the opportunity and we got it done. We can fight anywhere. I’m ready for it all. I think I can make ’85, so yeah man.”
Another fighter on the card, Brazil’s Ryan Gandra, has followed a path similar to Jared Cannonier’s, moving from heavyweight to light heavyweight before finding a home at middleweight. Johnson may take a similar route — or even skip 205 entirely and head straight to 185.
“Actually, [House] just hit me up today,” Johnson revealed. “Time don’t wait for no man, and I came out in good health — all glory to God — so he hit me up this morning about a matchup, asking if I could make 185 on November 1st, and I said, ‘No doubt.’ Just like he called me and asked if I could make heavyweight for this past week, he texted me this morning and asked if I could make ’85 on November 1st. That gives me two months to get 15 pounds off, and we’ll be ready.
“To be honest with you, I think I can fit pretty well in any of those three weight classes,” he continued. “170 is a little questionable — I haven’t weighed 170 since middle school — but heavyweight, 205, 185? Yeah.
“I think 185 will be a good weight class. I’m gonna get faster dropping that weight, and my power is definitely gonna carry down to 185 as well. I think I’m gonna be real lethal the lighter I get.”
Competing across multiple divisions was once a rarity, but fighters like Kevin Holland, Jessica Andrade, and Amanda Ribas have normalized a “have fists, will travel” approach, taking opportunities wherever they appear. Availability has become a key factor in rising through the ranks — just ask middleweight contender Anthony “Fluffy” Hernandez, who will be chasing his fifth win in 12 months this October in Vancouver.
Johnson is keenly aware of both trends. And while he already had a nickname, he has a new one in mind now that he’s landed on the UFC roster.
“Call me ‘Mr. Reliable,’” he said with a smile. “I’m the right man for the job, and if you need me, I’m gonna be there.”
