Al Iaquinta may decide that fighting simply isn’t worth it.
Last night (April 22), Iaquinta made his return to active mixed martial arts (MMA) competition against Diego Sanchez. “Raging” earned a first-round knockout inside the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee for UFC Fight Night 108. It was Iaquinta’s first bout since April 2015.
Iaquinta had been inactive because he wasn’t happy with his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) contract. When Iaquinta returned last night, he did so under the same deal. While Iaquinta walked away from his fight unscathed, he knows that won’t always be the case.
Speaking to the media (via MMAFighting.com), Iaquinta said he’ll only return if he wants to:
“I love fighting, but I’m not gonna ruin my body. This is no game, man. This is for real. [Getting paid $26,000 and a $26,000 win bonus] is not a lot of money. For doing what I’m doing, for being on TV, for me driving the car I’m driving, I gotta be living a lot better than this. I could be doing anything in the world and making the same kind of money. And I don’t have the risk of getting hurt. I don’t need to fight now. I have my real-estate career. I’m set with that. So, if I want to fight, I’ll fight.”
