In one of the most exciting fights coming up on the UFC calendar is the mouth-watering feature of Al Iaquinta vs. Justin Gaethje, which will be the main course of the UFC Fight Night Nebraska event on August 25th. Although all’s well that ends well, the negotiations seemed to fluctuate the fight from on again to off again, even prompting Dana White to publicly declare that there was no chance the fight would happen. Within one week of White making that proclamation, however, the fight was made official. So what was the holdup? In an interview with Lucas Grandsire, Al Iaquinta provided the answer to that question:
“They wanted to pay me the same for this fight that they wanted to pay me for Paul Felder,” Iaquinta said. “So Paul Felder would have been an unranked guy, a three-round fight, and people wanted to see it. It’s a good fight, but it wasn’t a headliner. They don’t want to put that on as a headliner.”
Although Iaquinta would lose via unanimous decision to Nurmagomedov in a shutout defeat, Iaquinta believes his gutsy performance and short-notice acceptance of the fight has risen his stock with the fans, and that this should be reflected in his next paycheck:
“My stock rose after that fight with Khabib. I think a lot of the guys would have stepped in there and kind of gone in there for a payday or gone in there and dive. I fuckin’ went for it, man.
“I went in there, and I hung in tough. I gave him some trouble. So I think my stock rose, definitely, with the fans. The fans respect hopping in there on a day’s notice and taking it to the best in the world. So the fans are really behind me. I’ve never been so high in the fans’ opinion.”
In summary, if Iaquinta is going to headline a card with a very tough opponent in a fight that the fans want to see after having boosted his value in the promotion, the company should not come to him with the same number:
“So if I’m gonna headline a five-round fight against a guy that’s ranked twice as [Felder], I should definitely get a little more. Added risk for me, and they’re gonna make a lot of money. We gotta work together. It can’t be me working and getting the same. That doesn’t work for me.”
Thankfully, Iaquinta and the UFC were indeed able to work together and give the fans the headliner they wanted for Lincoln, Nebraska.
Do you agree with Al Iaquinta’s argument for why he deserves more money for the UFC Nebraska headliner against Justin Gaethje?
