The UFC’s new Reebok sponsorship agreement isn’t the most popular venture among fighters, but you won’t hear many of them speak too negatively about it.

Georges St-Pierre no longer has to play the role of company man and the former UFC welterweight champion believes fighters are staying silent in part due to an intimidation factor.

“This is a very hard life. These guys don’t make a lot of money, and they have to keep their mouth shut. If you open them and say what you think…you see what happened in the Reebok thing. If you talk bad about certain things, you’re kicked out,” St-Pierre told reporters Wednesday at a Hayabusa-sponsored workout session in Las Vegas.

“Some of these guys need the income. I understand that. And I’m no different than them. But now I’m in a position where I can say what I think. I’m not being disrespectful, but I am talking for a lot of people. Trust me.”

The UFC recently took a lot of heat for firing cutman Jacob “Stitch” Duran after he spoke out about how the UFC’s Reebok deal impacted his income. Duran, one of the most cherished and respected figures at UFC events, simply expressed an opinion but that didn’t matter to UFC officials.

St-Pierre is in a unique situation compared to the vast majority of athletes and others involved in the UFC. He has nothing left to prove in the sport and made enough money during his career through competition and sponsorships that he never has to fight again.

That wasn’t always the case though.

“A few years ago, I didn’t make as much money. And it was easy for people there to say, ‘oh yeah? You’re talking bad about us? You’re out.’ There are a lot of guys in the same situation,” St-Pierre said. “They think the same things as me, but they do not have the power that I have. I don’t need to fight anymore. If I don’t want to fight, I am wealthy, I am happy. I don’t need this anymore. Maybe I would like to, but I don’t need to.”

St-Pierre, who continues to train and hasn’t officially retired, added that if he ever decided to return to the UFC his allegiance with Under Armour – a Reebok competitor – would be a potential stumbling block.

h/t to Jeremy Botter of Bleacher Report