White says drug testing deal doesn't get done with a union, responds to Aldo's Reebok criticisms

Dana White has been a part of a couple of game-changing deals in the last few months. First was the UFC's sponsorship deal with Reebok, which has inspired criticism from fans, media, and a small portion of UFC fighters. The second deal was the their brand new drug testing policy, which was announced yesterday and partners the UFC with the USADA to provide thorough and wide-ranging testing for UFC fighters. This has also drawn a little bit of criticism, but not nearly as much as the Reebok deal.

White was quick to respond to any and all criticism of both deals on UFC Tonight. And one of the first things he mentioned was in reference to a fighter's union, something Jose Aldo recently brought up. White actually said that this drug testing deal wouldn't have got done if there was a union for fighters:

"You know what's funny? No matter what we do there's always some negative guy out there that will have some negative thing to say about it. Even a policy as tough as this, people talk about unions and things like that? If there was a [fighters'] union this would have never happened.

"This would have never happened with a union. This is the best thing to do for the sport and for the athletes."

He also fired back at critics of the Reebok deal, specifically UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo, who called the deal "s**t" and expressed an interest in the aforementioned union:

"The UFC isn't making the revenue that the NFL and the NBA are. This is the first ever deal that we've had with a huge sporting apparel company like Reebok.

"The fighters aren't being treated well? They're getting all the money. The fighters are getting paid every time they fight. Every time they step in the cage they're being paid by Reebok and you can still keep all your sponsors."

...

"Jose Aldo is the perfect example. Reebok went after Jose Aldo aggressively and Venum was like, 'You're not taking Jose Aldo.' Venum ended up keeping Jose Aldo. It paid him more money."

Of course, the new Reebok deal means that Aldo can't actually wear Venum gear in the octagon or at any UFC-sponsored events. Just because he didn't choose to sign a personal deal with him doesn't mean he's not restricted by the company-wide deal for all fighters. Maybe that will be addressed sometime soon.

Both the Reebok deal and the drug-testing system kick in next month.