Iaquinta: I'm 'never going to forget' UFC threw me to the side
A new contract won't be enough for Al Iaquinta to bury the hatchet with the UFC.
Despite seeing several years' worth of gripes resolved with a new deal marking a substantial pay bump, the fan-favorite lightweight - who meets Paul Felder at UFC 223 on April 7 - recently told FloCombat's Damon Martin he'll never fully relegate some of his past dealings with the promotion to his rearview.
Things turned sour between the two parties when Iaquinta underwent knee surgery in late 2015, a procedure the UFC eventually paid for in full after initially agreeing to cover only a percentage thereof. But while the performance bonus bans, expletive-laced postfight tirades, and shoddy fight purses are now things of the past, Iaquinta admitted he still holds a bit of a grudge toward the brass.
"There are some things that have been done that I don't think I'll ever get over," Iaquinta said. "I was basically sitting in a car waiting for a phone call from Dana White or Lorenzo Fertitta and I never really got one. I had a surgery scheduled and they said they were not paying for it. They were going to pay like 15 percent or 30 percent and I was going to have to come up with a lot more money, which at the time I didn't have. They kind of forgot about me. They kind of threw me to the side.
"So I'm never going to forget that. But aside from that, I'm happy with what I'm getting paid for this fight. I'm not thinking past that. Everything made sense and it's all working out. I've just got to go in there and prove that I'm worth it."
Iaquinta's grievances put the kibosh on a New York homecoming opposite Thiago Alves at UFC 205 and a December booking with Felder at UFC 218, the two ill-fated matchups sandwiching an April KO of Diego Sanchez that allowed him to hold out for a more lucrative deal. But despite getting the pay bump he was seeking, the Long Island native maintained he's looking at the newly inked deal as a one-fight contract. Iaquinta made a real estate foray during his lengthy layoff, and takes comfort in knowing he can resort to his second calling should things with the brass go south once again.
He meets Felder two weeks from Saturday in Brooklyn on a five-fight win streak.