Al Iaquinta didn’t walk out of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s (UFC) Athlete Retreat feeling any better about the promotion.
It’s no secret that Iaquinta has been outspoken on his opinion of how the UFC handles their fighters. The 11th ranked lightweight hasn’t been happy with his pay and has been dabbling in real estate.
Iaquinta recently attended the UFC Athlete Retreat, but he couldn’t wait to make his exit the entire time. He explained to MMAJunkie.com what went wrong with the festivities:
“It was a weird atmosphere, having all these fighters and these guys like Kobe Bryant and Michael Strahan talking to everybody about investments and stuff like that. We’re not making anywhere near the money they’re making, so anything they were saying went right over everyone’s head.”
“Raging” noted that UFC co-owner Ari Emanuel appeared at the Retreat. While Iaquinta appreciated the effort, he said it came across as forced.
“I think (UFC co-owner) Ari Emanuel, he was trying to be one of us, but he’ll never be one of us. He was walking around trying to hang out with everybody, which was cool to see that, but he’s just not one of us. It’s not going to happen.”
