With the UFC now making millions of dollars, it's only fair that the fighters get a piece of the pie, according to Jose Aldo.
The UFC featherweight champ, who is slated to defend his title on Saturday against Chad Mendes, spoke once again on the topic of fighter pay in an interview with Ivan Raupp of Combate.com (h/t Fernando Arbex of Bloody Elbow).
"I've seen this happening in the past, athletes were highly valued, and the company was not that big. Today, the company is very large and athletes devalued," said Aldo.
When looking at the UFC, Aldo describes the promotion as a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately kind of company:
If you're fighting well, you are valued by the company. But you are fired if you lose three straight fights. It's hard to talk about numbers. You can watch Wanderlei Silva and Dana White discussing numbers. I'm employed by them, I can see their side. ... We always try to give the best of us in training to go in the cage and have a good performance, thus giving millions for the company. We also want to have part of these millions.
Silva retired from MMA in September due to what he called a lack of "respect" in the UFC and serious discrepancies in fighter pay. In a YouTube video to fans, the legendary MMA star blamed the promotion for taking away his desire to compete.
Aldo and Silva are just two among many fighters to question the UFC's pay scale.
UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz recently told Submission Radio that fighters in the UFC are only rewarded with "six percent" of the revenue collected from fans. Nate Quarry, a former middleweight title contender, claimed that the UFC only cared about the "bottom line" in a post on the MMA Underground, per Bloody Elbow's Fraser Coffeen.
Current heavyweight contender Mark Hunt, one of the most exciting fighters on the UFC roster, sent out a tweet a few weeks ago claiming that non-champions in the UFC only make average pay.
Don't know why my picture is on this list ufc fighters get paid average unless u are the champ. http://t.co/SjAb2z681L
— mark richard hunt (@markhunt1974) September 28, 2014
If Aldo is to be believed, then the same can be said about some UFC champions.
Aldo is widely considered as one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world. A win on Saturday would mark his seventh consecutive UFC title defense, tying Jon Jones for third place behind Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre for most consecutive title defenses.
Despite numerous accolades, Aldo hasn't really proved himself as a legitimate pay-per-view draw for the UFC. Fighters like Chael Sonnen and Conor McGregor have worked hard at reminding us of the importance of the promotional side of fighting. In a sense, fighters are their own bosses, and it is their responsibility to convince fans to buy into their brand.
The world of combat sports has never thrived on a passive attitude and an honest day's work.
Jordy McElroy is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA writer for Rocktagon.
