Former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans has rushed to Dana White's defence after his rows with Francis Ngannou and Jake Paul.
UFC president White has come under fire after it was disclosed following Saturday's UFC 270 pay-per-view with two world title fights that the collective purses for all 22 fighters came in at just $1.8million.
Ngannou, the world heavyweight champion, made just $600,000 or as little as 50 times less than his boxing counterpart Tyson Fury, while interim champion Ciryl Gane was paid $350,000.
YouTube star Paul has consistently called out White over what he believes is the underpaying of fighters, while Ngannou is locked in a heated contract dispute with the promotion.
But Evans, who makes his return to the cage this weekend on the American debut of Khabib Nurmagomedov's Eagle FC against Gabriel Checco, believes that Whyte is generous with fighters in general.
"I don't always got to like what somebody say," Evans said during an appearance on the PBD Podcast.
"But if they're kind of shooting straight from the hips, then I can accept that and Dana's one of those guys.
"And he does take care of his champions - he makes sure that he does whatever he can.
"He is one of those guys who does things and doesn't say anything about it.
"People don't really know how generous Dana is and the things that he do because he is not one of those guys, 'Oh I did this.'
"And he doesn't brag about it at all, he just does it."
The issue of fighter pay has become a hot button topic of discussion in the MMA community since Paul began championing it last year.
He has put his money where his mouth is on a number of occasions, taking a significant pay cut last August for his first fight with Tyron Woodley in order for undercard fighters to make more.
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His guarantee, even with that substantial cut to his final purse, was over $100,000 more than the entire PPV card from last weekend's UFC return.
Ngannou and Gane, both world champions at heavyweight, fought in the main event at the Honda Center in Anaheim, while the co-main saw a trilogy bout for the flyweight belt between Brandon Moreno and Deiveson Figueiredo.
And it now remains to be seen if Ngannou will stick with the promotion, or see out his contract until December and test free agency.
He has vowed not to fight under his current deal, which was automatically extended due to a championship clause.
“No, I will not fight for $500,000 or $600,000 anymore," Ngannou said in an interview with ESPN before defeating Gane. "It’s over.
"I took this fight just for a personal reason, because I want to make sure that regardless of it being unfair, I can make my case that I have completed the fights."
