“I was like, ‘No, dude, I hate to break it to you—I’m Black. I’m sorry, I’m one of you now. I’m one of you if you accept me.'”
“But I get it all the time. All the time.”
“It’s not my position to tell them, ‘I am Black, mother—, you better recognize me!’ It’s like, this is who I am. If you like it, you like it. If you don’t, too bad.”
“And like I said, it’s something I’ve dealt with my whole life. Being at a barbecue full of homies, everybody there is Black, they’re all dating Black chicks, and I’m not. And I’m like, ‘That’s your guys’ problem.'”
“I was like, ‘Who’s all stressed out here? Not my Black ass. You all are.'”
“I feel like our community—the Black community—has to be better”
Challenges of Raising Biracial Children
When discussing raising his biracial children, Johnson emphasized the importance of helping them understand and embrace their full identity. He described conversations with his children about their racial background, telling them “you’re Black…and you’re also white too. You have the best of both worlds.”
The MMA champion shared a poignant story about his son encountering racial language for the first time during youth football, noting it was something his son had never experienced before due to his upbringing. He recounted how his son recently learned about historical anti-miscegenation laws, asking incredulously if there was a time when his parents couldn’t have been together.
Johnson expressed pride in challenging stereotypes about Black fatherhood, stating “I’m proud to be one of those good statistics of a Black husband.”
He emphasized the deep connection with his wife, noting “there’s never gonna be another woman out there that can replace my wife because she’s giving me three children…what we built, like no other woman, I don’t care how hot you are, whatever it is, there’s nothing you can do that’s ever going to trump what my wife has done for me.”
Advocating for Muhammad Ali Act in MMA
Beyond his personal life, Johnson has also been vocal about professional reforms in MMA. The former UFC flyweight champion has called for the Muhammad Ali Act to be expanded to mixed martial arts to give fighters more control over their careers and earning potential.
In his appearance on “Outta Pocket with RGIII,” Johnson explained that introducing the Muhammad Ali Act to MMA would create true free agency and allow champions to negotiate their own fights and purses independently.
“Right now if you are Jon Jones, he’s the heavyweight champion of the world, you also have Tom Aspinall who’s the heavyweight champion of the world interim champion – they are under the UFC banner. UFC gets the rights to create that fight,” Johnson explained. “But if we have the Muhammad Ali Act where a champion is his own entity…who wants to host this fight? Saudi Arabia? They want to host that fight, want to pay you 25 million…”
Johnson highlighted how boxing’s structure allows fighters like Floyd Mayweather to negotiate with different broadcasters and promoters for their bouts. In contrast, MMA fighters are restricted by exclusive contracts that let promoters dictate terms.
“In mixed martial arts we don’t have that. They get to dictate where you fight, how much it is, all that stuff,” Johnson said.
