– UFC president Dana White has stood up for many of the smaller weight class champions throughout his tenure with the promotion. But, he also understands the business aspect of the sport.
UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo has been critical of his base pay recently. He is scheduled to compete this August against Chad Mendes, and White responded to his comments during a recent interview on “Inside MMA.”
“Everyone needs to make more money. A guy like Jose Aldo, he’s the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world for two rounds,” White said. “Then he starts to slide off. Our champions are pay-per-view partners. How many pay-per-views you sell, how much you sell, you get a piece of the action. They don’t sell as much as the bigger guys. It’s up to Jose to make people care and want to watch.”
The UFC recently put flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson in the headline bout of a pay-per-view from Vancouver, and female bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey has also been the main event, along with Renan Barao.
– If you were looking forward to a potential super fight between Chris Weidman and Johny Hendricks, you better not hold your breath. UFC president Dana White shot down the idea when Hendricks, the UFC welterweight champion, mentioned it during a recent appearance on “Inside MMA.”
“You are in a nasty division packed with talent from No. 1 to No. 13,” White said. “You have a lot of house work to do before you clean out the division and talk about Chris Weidman.”
Weidman defends his middleweight title next month against Lyoto Machida, while Hendricks is expected to face the winner of Robbie Lawler-Matt Brown later this year.
– UFC fighter Louis Gaudinot has tested positive for a banned diuretic and is suspended six months. The failed test came after a win over Phil Harris earlier this year in England, which was changed to a no-contest when Gaudinot was foudn to have hydrochlorothiazide in his system.
“I have great respect for the UFC, the sport of MMA and my opponent,” said Gaudinot, in a statement released to MMAjunkie.com. “I would never do anything to disrespect them. I would never do anything to tarnish my name, my teammates and my family.”
Gaudinot was suspended from the date of the March event and must submit a clean drug test prior to returning to action. Since the event took place overseas, the UFC served as the governing body.
