Luke Rockhold (photo via UFC)

By FCF Staff

Recently Luke Rockhold became the latest fighter to speak out on fighter pay, and the former UFC champ believes it’s all part of a “transition period”.

Since the UFC sold for reportedly $4.2 billion, several fighters have argued that they are undervalued, and deserve more money. Rockhold recently reported that he had refused to sign his latest bout offer, because it didn’t compensate him more enough. More recently, however, Rockhold agreed to fight “Jacare” Souza at UFC Fight Night 101 on November 27th.

Th highly regarded fighter appeared on a recent episode of the Extra Rounds Podcast, and Rockhold reported that he restructured his contract with the UFC. The middleweight star also had this to say about the recent trend, whereby, fighters have been calling for more pay (quote via MMA Fighting.com):

“…I’ve got other avenues outside the sport, and I’m not gonna go fight when it’s not worth it. I gotta get my due, I’ve gotta get my worth. No matter how much I love fight, and what I’m doing out here, I need to get f*cking paid.”

“I think we’re in a transition period. I think there’s definitely positive change in the sport and people are starting to realize it’s about leverage in the right situation and understanding your worth… These guys are trying to keep you down on these paychecks, keep you hungry, keep you needing more.”

Rockhold hasn’t fought since June when he lost the middleweight title to Michael Bisping via knockout.