Junior Albini hasn’t had an easy road on his way to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
“Baby” made his UFC debut a successful one this past Saturday night (July 22). He finished Timothy Johnson in the first round via TKO inside the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York.
Life was anything but glamorous for Albini, who hadn’t been paid for many of his fights in Brazil and was given money by the UFC to get comfortable before fight night (via MMAFighting.com):
“(The UFC) gave me 740 dollars to stay there from Tuesday to Sunday, and a breakfast voucher. Most of the money I used to buy stuff for my daughter, clothes and toys. Since I was cutting weight, (breakfast) was good enough food for me.”
With little necessities and no luxuries for his daughter, Albini kept pushing for his dream and it has paid off.
“I’ve seen people say that my dream was kind of selfish in a way because my wife and daughter were having a hard life because I insisted on this dream, but it’s hard to say anything because we went through so much together. I mentioned her toys because I’m a father and I wanted to give her that. We always gave her everything we could. My wife always believed in me and supported me. It’s surreal to be able to give back to them now.”
