UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson will wait about two weeks before he takes himself off the fight market for the rest of the year.

If he doesn’t get rebooked against Ray Borg for next month’s UFC 216, he told MMAjunkie, he won’t be fighting until 2018. But he also expects his management team to work out a settlement with the promotion for his ill-fated fight at UFC 215.

“I’m sure the UFC and (my manager) will want a negotiation, and I’ll just sit back and let those guys handle everything,” Johnson said.

Johnson (26-2-1 MMA, 14-1-1 UFC) was scheduled to take on Ray Borg (11-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) in a potentially historic pay-per-view headliner this past Saturday at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Johnson hoped to break the all-time record for consecutive title defenses at 11.

Two days before the fight, however, Johnson received a call from the UFC’s chief legal counsel that Borg had fallen ill and wasn’t able to fight.

Backstage at UFC 215, Johnson told reporters the UFC is working on rescheduling the fight for UFC 216, which takes place Oct. 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. He also noted his team and the promotion were working on compensation for the canceled fight.

So far, though, Johnson has yet to receive word of his next step.

UFC public relations head Lenee Breckenridge today told MMAjunkie she is looking into the situation.

Although the UFC is not contractually obligated to pay fighters whose opponents are unable to compete, the promotion often pays out show money when last-minute issues cancel a fight.

However, the promotion has taken a different stance with title fights, in which fight purses are often significantly larger. UFC lightweight Tony Ferguson elected not to take a lower-paying fight at UFC 209 when opponent Khabib Nurmagomedov fell ill and received less than half of the show money he was supposed to get for Nurmagomedov.

Johnson created a stir today when he told “The MMA Hour” he hasn’t been paid for his ill-fated headliner. But in a subsequent interview with MMAjunkie, he downplayed the severity of the situation, placing faith in his management and the UFC that it will be resolved.

“When something like this happens, they always try to make it right,” he said. “I’m pretty sure they’ll get me taken care of and paid.”

In a 10-year career, Johnson said this is the first time he’s been put in a situation in which he’s showed up to fight only to be left hanging. With a manager now in his corner, he feels more secure in the ultimate outcome. Before, he and his coach negotiated directly with the UFC.

“That’s why I felt good Friday night and Saturday night after everything went through,” Johnson said. “I can’t do anything, and (manager) Abe (Kawa) was there and he was like, ‘We’re going to get you taken care of and we’re going to make it happen.’ I was like, ‘Sounds good. I trust you guys.’ It’s all about building trust, and so far, they’re doing a good job of building that trust.”

As of late, the depth of trust, or lack thereof, has been a looming issue in Johnson’s relationship with UFC President Dana White. The fighter and executive were at loggerheads over Johnson’s choice to fight Borg instead of ex-bantamweight champ T.J. Dillashaw at UFC 213. Johnson also released a statement blasting the promotion over how it treated him.

The situation appeared to calm down eventually. Johnson said the two had worked out their differences, and White greenlit the Borg matchup.

White did not attend this past Saturday’s event. But Johnson doesn’t glean any hostility from that absence.

“I’m happy that Dana was on vacation with his family, and his children, and his wife,” Johnsons said. “I’m happy he was on vacation.”

With six fights remaining on his UFC contract, Johnson has a lot of time left to work with the promotion. As he made clear, he’d rather do that than be at odds.

For complete coverage of UFC 215, check out the UFC Events section of the site. And for more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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