Dana White Reveals Jose Aldo Lost Close To $4 Million By Pulling Out Of UFC 189

Recently former UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen speculated that longtime featherweight champion Jose Aldo would lose .5 million if the rib injury he suffered whilst sparring with training partner Alcides Nunes forced him out of his highly anticipated grudge match with Conor McGregor at this Saturday night’s (July 11, 2015) UFC 189 from Las Vegas, Nevada.

That indeed proved to be true, and with Aldo’s rib being broken, Chad Mendes vs. McGregor was confirmed for the interim featherweight belt in its stead.

Now that the unfortunate news is common knowledge, UFC President Dana White spoke up to clarify that Aldo would actually be losing closer to $ million for his withdrawal, which was his fifth in four years with the promotion. Making the rounds at ESPN today an appearing on radio talk show The Rusillo Show (via MMA Mania), White confirmed that Aldo lost four millions dollars when presented with the number by show host Mike Rusillo:

“Millions of dollars,” White said. “Yeah, he probably would’ve made close to four million.”

White went on to describe how, even with Aldo out and Mendes in, ticket sales for the blockbuster UFC 189 are still skyrocketing, with extra bleachers reportedly being forced into the MGM Grand Garden Arena. According to White, UFC 189 should easily establish the UFC biggest-ever United States gate:

“”Jose Aldo falls out, ticket sales are at 6.8 million,” White said. “Chad Mendes comes in, ticket sales go through the roof. 7.1 million, we are adding bleachers into the MGM. You can hook on these bleachers on to the top of the MGM. It’s at 7.1, it’s the biggest gate ever in the United States and not only did it not lose interest, it almost sort of gained more interest, as crazy as that sounds.”

But even despite the increased ticket sales, White still lamented about what could have been if Aldo would have been able to take part in his heated rivalry with McGregor. White didn’t seem to agree with the way Aldo got hurt, noting that Nunes should not have been throwing the technique that ultimately injured the champion:

“It’s crazy because I actually saw the video,” said White. “He gets hit with a spinning-heel kick, which is crazy in itself that anyone is even throwing that at him two weeks before his fight. It is what it is. He stood to make a lot of money, a lot of money. If he could’ve fought, he would’ve fought.”

Aldo tried to tough it out, but just couldn’t answer the bell with such a painful injury so close to fight time. Do you agree with White’s assessment that his training camp behaved foolishly?