Jose Aldo

By FCF Staff

Jose Aldo has questioned whether fighters are paid enough in the past, and as the UFC Featherweight Champion’s bout with Chad Mendes approaches, he’s raised the issue of compensation again.

Aldo, who will fight Mendes this Saturday at UFC 179, recently spoke to Globo’s Combate about the upcoming fight. During the interview, the renowned fighter reportedly had this to say about how much the UFC pays its fighters (quotes via Bloody Elbow.com):

“I ask for financial valorization not only for me, some other fighters should have too. We give a lot for the company. 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.”

“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 watchWanderlei Silva and Dana White discussing numbers. I’m employed by them, I can see their side. But we’ll always seek for valorization. We aren’t monthly paid, that’s why we have to keep fighting. We always try 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.”

The 28 year-old Aldo is currently riding a 17 fight winning streak and has won all 14 of his bouts with ZUFFA to date (UFC and WEC). The Brazilian is the UFC’s #2 ranked, pound-for-pound fighter.