UFC
Chad Mendes to be paid for UFC 189 standby role whether he fights or not
Jun 26, 2015 - 11:35:52 AM Chad Mendes to be paid for UFC 189 standby role whether he fights or not

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

With Chad Mendes training and cutting weight to serve as a standby opponent at UFC 189 should Jose Aldo be forced out for good, the UFC will be paying him for his time.

Mendes said in an interview with Kevin Iole at Yahoo! Sports that he wasn't aware when he agreed to serve in that role whether or not he'd be paid, but UFC President Dana White confirmed that it would indeed be the case.

"They offered me the chance to be the stand-by fighter for UFC and, paid or not, I was all over it," Mendes said. "I was 100 percent going to do it."

Paid he will be, and White said it's not the first time they've done that for a fighter, as they also paid Jessica Eye to train and cut weight to face Ronda Rousey in February had something happened to Cat Zingano.

Penick's Analysis: Given he's putting time into a training camp and will be ready to weigh-in should he be needed, it's only right that he be paid for that time and effort. Hopefully he won't actually be needed for fight night at this point given they're moving ahead with the promotion of Aldo-McGregor, but he's going to be ready at least. It's a smart move on his part now that he'll be getting paid as well, because he's going to get a piece of his newly signed contract before actually stepping into the cage.