It didn't take long for the UFC's sponsorship deal with Reebok to come under heavy fire for a host of controversial issues, from taking fighter's individual looks to costing them potential sponsorship money to heavy fines for acting against the guidelines of the apparel deal. Count Fabricio Werdum among those unhappy with the current situation.

The former UFC heavyweight champion says he was recently released from his job as a commentator for FOX Sports Latin America after posting a photo montage on social media in which the Nike logo replaced the Reebok sign on his Fight Kit uniform. Add that to the loss of potential sponsorship income over the past 16 months since the Reebok deal is in place and that amounts to a financial loss in the seven-figure range, according to Werdum.

"That's right, adding everything together, that'd be more than a million dollars, for sure", Werdum told Ag.Fight. "I made a post on my social network as a protest, really, because I made a lot of money before and now I earn $5,000 in sponsorship for one fight. I don't have a contract with Reebok, I'm free."

Despite the financial hit, though, Werdum said he won't change his stance on the matter.

"I don't regret anything," he insisted. "It was meant as a protest, because of the amount of money that's at stake. Things changed a lot. I went from earning six figures to $5,000 (a fight). I lost sponsorship deals, because I'm not longer able to show off sponsors during fight week. I'm not happy with it. I wanted to do this for everyone to open their eyes and for people to realize that what you see on television is not everything."

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Regarding being fired from his broadcast position, Werdum said that letting him go was neither shady nor illegal since he was under contract directly with the UFC, not FOX. Thus, the decision to let him go was made by UFC officials, not by the channel.

"I was with the UFC Network," Werdum said. "I've always been there and did my job, they paid me regularly, I can't complain about anything. But I have don't have a contract with FOX. I just didn't know they could fire me for something stupid like that. It wasn't that I didn't do my job right or anything like that. I just wanted to show people that this is how it works in this game. "

Since the Reebok deal started, Werdum has stepped into the cage twice. At UFC 198 in May, "Vai Cavalo" lost the heavyweight belt he won from Cain Velasquez a year earlier to Stipe Miocic by first-round knockout.

This past September, Werdum got back into the win column by defeating Travis Browne by unanimous decision for the second time, setting up yet another rematch against Velasquez at UFC 207 on December 30 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

By AG Fight for FloCombat