An online petition that came to light this week accuses Johnson of abusing dogs and asks the UFC to release him because of it. On Thursday at UFC 191 media day, Johnson denied the allegations, but admitted to the practice of cropping his dogs' ears. The petition was filed four months ago.
"My dogs are well liked and well loved," Johnson said. "I take my dogs everywhere. Somebody put I'm manipulating my dogs. Dude, I cropped his ears. I'm not beating the dog, I'm not starving the dog to death. Nothing like that. I definitely laugh at things like that, because everybody that knows me -- even if you don't know me and look at my Instagram, look at my Facebook and stuff -- you can tell I love my dogs.