UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo's confidence seems to extend outside of the Octagon, and into the business world of MMA. "Scarface" seems just as quick with a criticism of UFC brass (well, at least since president Dana White began to inexplicably bash his dominant and entertaining champ) as he is with one of his nasty leg kicks.
With a title defense this Saturday in his home of Brazil against Chad Mendes�(14-1), Aldo recently once more spoke up about what he views as he and other UFC fighters' relatively meager pay to take part in one of the world's most extreme sports. When Brazilian outlet Globo asked Aldo (24-1) - by far, the UFC's longest reigning champion - in a recent interview if he deserved higher pay from the UFC, he said, 'yes,' but also that he isn't the only one.
"Not only me, but also other athletes deserve it," he said.
"We [fighters] give a lot to the company, and I think it is not as valued as it should... Nowadays the company is very large and athletes are very devalued."
Aldo says that, while the UFC pays fighters well when things are going well, the promotion is fickle and not particularly loyal once things go a bit rougher. "If you're fighting well, you are valued by the company," he explained.
"But you're fired if you lose three straight fights."�
Fighting for purses makes for an unpredictable, and difficult-to-budget, life. Aldo says that fighters like himself have no problem laying it on the line in the sport they love, but he wishes that the labor got a bigger share of the UFC's all-time high riches.
"We do not earn a monthly salary, so we have to keep fighting," Aldo said.
"We try to always give the maximum in training to get in there and fight, thus raising millions for the company. We also want to have part of these millions."
Do you think that exciting, dominant UFC champs like Aldo should get a higher percentage of the UFC's revenue? Or, do you think the increasing wages, over the years, are about right, given how new the UFC is, and all their expenses?
Let us know in the comments section.
Follow Elias on Twitter @EliasCepeda & @YahooCagewriter
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