Al Iaquinta Has Named His Price To Fight Paul Felder: ‘The Ball Is In The UFC’s Court’
Al Iaquinta was expected to fight Paul Felder at UFC 218 on Dec. 2, but unfortunately, an injury ruled him out of the bout just 24-hours after the fight was announced.
Speaking to MMAJunkie Radio earlier today, Iaquinta explained why he was pulled out of the fight.
“I was supposed to fight Paul Felder back on Dec. 2, but I dunno, it wasn’t the right time to fight,” Iaquinta said. “I had an injury that was coming back and I didn’t want to come back too soon for too little money so that wasn’t the right fight.”
The Serra-Longo man went on to reveal that he pulled himself from the bout almost immediately after the UFC announced it publicly, but he was left in an awkward position when the news of his withdrawal wasn’t announced for a few weeks.
“They should pay me for the last fight,” Iaquinta said. “I accepted the fight and the next day, I said, ‘Take me off the card, I don’t want to fight.’ I never signed a bout contract or anything. I never told anyone about the fight or anything.
“They announced the fight and then they kept me on the card for a month so people still thought I was fighting. I didn’t know what to say, people were asking me for interviews and asking about the fight and I didn’t want to say I wasn’t fighting. I dunno, I wanted the UFC to handle it.”
Thankfully, everything now appears to be sorted injury-wise and Iaquinta is cleared to return to action. With two fights left on his current four-fight deal, Iaquinta has requested to re-up his contract and he revealed he’s yet to hear back from the UFC on the terms he’s requested.
“I’m good to go and I think they were trying to get me to fight Felder again because I told them I wanted to fight him and it wasn’t unreasonable, but I haven’t heard back from them so I don’t think, well the ball is in their court right now,” Iaquinta said.
“I think for a guy that was ranked 10, I don’t know where I’m at now, but five wins and four knockouts, there’s a lot of guys in the UFC getting paid way more than what I asked for and they don’t even have a number next to their name. They haven’t knocked anyone out, so what I asked for is not unreasonable. The ball is in their court now. I don’t know what they’re going to do. I don’t think they like me. I just think they’re probably just going to let me go.”
