Al Iaquinta willing to walk away from MMA if dispute with UFC remains unsettled
After spending 17 months shelved by injuries, he couldn't afford to risk another health scare on the terms of his present contract, which was signed prior to the UFC-Reebok deal, and in the case of a loss, would effectively have him "fighting at Madison Square Garden for free."
"If I win the fight and they take taxes out and I pay my trainers, I make okay money. Okay. For fighting in a cage, I don't know about it. God forbid, I don't win the fight, (after) taxes, trainers, all the expenses, everything that goes into a training camp, I'm basically fighting at Madison Square Garden for free."
What followed was a process that Iaquinta likened to a nightmare. After a meeting with Dr. Riley Williams at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, Iaquinta requested to have a procedure called an osteochondral allograft to repair his injured knee. Iaquinta said UFC doctors instead insisted on stem cell injections to repair the damage, although after a near half-year process, Iaqunita's injury remained unchanged and he again pushed to have surgery with Dr. Williams.
Iaquinta said the UFC initially offered to cover $15,000 of the procedure, which costs upwards of $60,000, not including the price of extensive post-surgery physical therapy. The UFC ultimately paid the full cost of the procedure, however there was an extended period when Iaquinta believed his mixed martial arts career may actually be over.
But I feel like, to not even have a negotiation, and the things I heard (UFC matchmaker) Joe Silva say to my manager about me when he asked just to negotiate, ‘eff him, eff this' -- who is he to put a price tag on what my life is worth, on what my knee is worth? I've had two knee surgeries already. I may have to have to have another one after nine more fights.