Al Iaquinta’s dream of fighting at Madison Square Garden has temporarily been dashed after a contract dispute with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) forced him out of his scheduled fight against Thiago Alves, which was supposed to go down at UFC 205 on Nov. 12, 2016 in New York.
The bulk of the dispute was the fact that the much-criticized Reebok deal hindered his chances at getting the extra money that often came through sponsorship opportunities. And since UFC refused to renegotiate his contract, Al — who is now a real estate agent in New York — says taking the fight was something he couldn’t do.