Fighters Only

Issue 148

December 2016

Al Iaqunita is as mad as hell at the UFC.

Al Iaquinta was all set for a dream fight in New York City against Thiago Alves. But just weeks before the fight, his relationship with the UFC broke down and now he’s unsure if he’ll ever fight again.

The i’s were dotted and t’s crossed. He was fired up to put on a show for the Madison Square Garden crowd and take out Alves.

Then everything fell apart. The 29-year-old balked at the contract he was presented.

After struggling back to fitness after more than 18 months on the shelf and his ability to supplement his income from sponsors now limited, he decided the money on offer was simply not worth the effort.

The fight was scrapped and ‘Raging’ Al began to live up to his nickname by slamming the UFC at every opportunity.

“It’s pretty disappointing,” he says. “I’m actually kind of over it now. I have no interest in dealing with the UFC right now. There is no dealing with them. I am going to do my own thing. I have kept my mouth shut for a long time.

“I did what they asked, like the rest of the fighters. I signed the addendum for the Reebok deal. I signed the addendum for USADA.

"If they can change contracts whenever they want, I asked if I could change my contract. When they asked to make a change in my contract I should have done the same thing they did. I should have said, ‘F**k you. Cut me because I really don’t care.’”

It’s a major blow for fans who’d waited patiently for the return of the man that remained in the official Octagon rankings, despite his time away from the cage. Iaquinta too, will surely be hit hard by giving up the chance to make the short trip from Long Island to Midtown Manhattan.

He had described the chance to fight in the Octagon in his home state – backed by a team of fighters he’d grown up with – as a dream come true.

Now, he’s indifferent to the prospect of ever competing for the organization again.

“I have no need to be a UFC fighter any more. I have no interest in being someone’s bitch just to say I’m a UFC fighter.

"I don’t need to walk the streets and have people recognize me as a fighter. They will recognize me as a fighter, but inside I know that they (the UFC) are just bitching everyone around. I have no interest in it any more.”

The contract isn’t Iaquinta’s only grievance. He also has other bones to pick because he claims he was denied the chance to win any post-fight performance bonuses because of a series of infractions – including his foul-mouthed tirade after his last fight with Jorge Masvidal, and failure to attend a fighter summit in Las Vegas.

He also didn’t agree with the support – or lack of it – he was given to fix the knee injury he’d carried for years.

“They don’t appreciate the fighters at all,” he fumes. “It’s amazing how many fighters reached out to me when I spoke up and said they wish they could have done what I did.

"They just weren’t in the right financial position to do so. They couldn’t speak out. They had to take what they could get. I really don’t care. I don’t need much. I am happy with what I am doing and, hopefully, me speaking out will give some other guys confidence to do the same.

“Hopefully something gets done. It’s convenient for the UFC to have us as independent contractors when it’s convenient and when it’s not then we are employees.

"Everything is in their favor. They made the sport popular, but it would be nothing without the fighters. They feel like they gifted us something but we helped out a lot.”

In the aftermath of his decision to sit out of the anticipated MSG show, Iaquinta added his name to the list of fighters that have called for a union.

But, even with some heavy hitters from the sports world getting involved or association to represent their interests.

He’s not sold on the idea getting off the ground right now, but he maintains the need for representation is there.

“It’s going to be tough because they (the UFC) know who to keep just happy enough to where they aren’t going to make a big deal out of it.

"They are smart. They are businessmen. I am a businessman as well. I’m treating it as a business. I need more money to do what I do.

“My body is only going to hold up and last so long in this career. If I burn through my money in one year how am I going to survive the rest of my life?

"I fought eight times in a very short period of time, then I had a year and a half off, and I don’t have much to show for it.”

For now, one of the best lightweights in the world doesn’t have a fight booked and he doesn’t want to fight under the terms of his current contract. He’s happy to earn money outside fighting thanks to his real estate license and a personal training business.

Despite all the hard work it took to become one of the best fighters in the sport’s deepest division, we may have seen the last of Al Iaquinta as a professional mixed martial artist.

“I am like 99% retired. That’s fine. I enjoy fighting and I enjoy training. If I just go to the gym and train and spar once in a while I’ll be good.

"The higher-ups in the UFC are living pretty. They are making a lot of money and that’s their bottom line.

“At the end of the day, they admire us but they are also jaded by money in my opinion. Hey, ultimately maybe I’m not worth what I think I am and if that’s the case then I don’t want to fight anyway.”