Jose Aldo’s relationship with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) seems to be nearing an end, as the current interim champion requested a release from the promotion a few weeks back (full details here), after Conor McGregor was granted a lightweight title shot against Eddie Alvarez instead of unifying the 145-pound titles.
But before “Junior” goes, he’s revealing some family secrets; some that are painting company president Dana White in a bad light, as Aldo told MMA Fighting that the outspoken head honcho offered him a “bigger slice of the pie” if he stayed quiet when it came to a fighters’ union.
His words:
“Not only now that I’m the one being affected, but I always talked about it and defended better things for Brazilian athletes. In a conversation, Dana himself came and told me not to take anyone’s sides because the cake would be split the same for everyone, but I could get a bigger slice if I stayed quiet.”
To hear Aldo say it, a union would benefit not only himself, but the rest of his fellow colleagues who may, or may not be “bullied” by the promotion. But, the problem is that fighters simply can’t get united, preferring to look after No. 1, instead.
“We should have that (privileges) a long time ago already. Pepper in other’s a** is refreshment. When everyone can talk, nobody does, but when you feel it yourself… I think our class is disorganized, disunited. If we were more united, it would be better, for sure. Nobody would do what they want with us. Today, they pay two, five, 10 thousand to fight in the UFC. This class is f**king disunited. It would be completely different for Brazilians if we were more united, not only in MMA.”
As for the union itself, it’s still long way before it’s actually a reality, but this guy is determined to make it happen.
Regarding Aldo’s retirement plans, White doesn’t think it will actually go down and says his interim champion is just being “ridiculous.” But after this revelation, it’s safe to say that the relationship the once had will not be the same.
There seems to be a lot of that going around lately.