Al Iaquinta Withdraws From UFC 205 Over Contract Issues

Former The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) finalist and New York native “Raging” Al Iaquinta hasn’t competed since April 2015 due to various injuries, and he recently announced that he would making his return against Thiago Alves at November 12’s UFC 205, which will serve as the UFC’s first event in the Empire State since the ban on mixed martial arts was lifted earlier this year.

He may have spoke too soon, however, as he’s now announced that he’s withdrawn from the card and not because of injuries, but rather because of contract issues with the promotion. Speaking on today’s (September 19, 2016) edition of The MMA Hour, Iaquinta noted that he signed his current contract prior to the UFC-Reebok deal, and that many things have changed since then. Because of that, “Raging” Al admits that was interested in negotiating with the UFC, although the company wasn’t having it:

“There’s a lot things that have changed since I signed the contract, and for me to go in there and risk my health, risk everything that you risk when you go into a cage fight, I just said, ‘look, I can’t do it,'” Iaquinta explained. “‘We’ve got to ask for more money. Maybe we can negotiate something.’ My manager told me there’s probably not a good chance of that happening, so I said, ‘you know what, I can’t do it. Financially, I can’t fight for this purse.’

“If I win the fight and they take taxes out and I pay my trainers, I make okay money. Okay. For fighting in a cage, I don’t know about it. God forbid, I don’t win the fight, (after) taxes, trainers, all the expenses, everything that goes into a training camp, I’m basically fighting at Madison Square Garden for free. It’s just unreasonable. So I asked him to reach out to the UFC, and from what he tells me there was no consideration of a negotiation whatsoever.”

While Iaquinta said that he’d obviously love to compete at Madison Square Garden, he once again reiterated that it simply wasn’t worth it. He also said that him and UFC matchmaker Joe Silva didn’t see ‘eye-to-say’:

“It would be great to say that I fought at Madison Square Garden, but after a while, you’re just saying that. There’s nothing to show for it. And that’s basically why I took the stance that I took, and it’s a tough one because there’s nothing I’d love to do more than fight at Madison Square Garden. But I feel like, to not even have a negotiation, and the things I heard (UFC matchmaker) Joe Silva say to my manager about me when he asked just to negotiate, ‘eff him, eff this’ — who is he to put a price tag on what my life is worth, on what my knee is worth? I’ve had two knee surgeries already. I may have to have to have another one after nine more fights.

“Am I going to be able to walk? Am I going to be able to live and enjoy life? And for him to say, ‘eff you, eff this, I’ll cut him. Is he retired?’ … Maybe we don’t see eye-to-eye, and maybe I’m not worth what I am, but for you to say, ‘eff this, eff that’ — you’ve never stepped in the cage. You don’t know what my body feels like after a fight, what my body will feel like down the line. So for a company like the UFC to talk to me like that, to talk about me like that, it just doesn’t sit right with me. I think it could’ve been resolved a whole different way. I think we could’ve gone about it a whole different way. I don’t know. It’s just frustrating.”

In a sport like mixed martial arts, fighter safety must be at the forefront of a fighter’s worries.

Do you agree with the route that Iaquinta took?