UFC newcomer Junior Albini scored an impressive first round knockout victory in his octagon debut last weekend. The heavyweight earned a victory over Timothy Johnson at Saturday’s UFC on FOX 25. Now, the fighter has revealed that the victory brought him more money than any fight in many years.
In a media scrum following the fighter’s victory, as transcribed by BloodyElbow, “It was all for free. Many times I was spending my money for the hotel, to pay for tickets, travel, everything — even food. It’s been four years that I didn’t make any money from fighting. I was just pursuing my dream.”
The fighter then explained that finding the finances to purchase his daughter a toy proved almost impossible, “In these two years, I never was able to buy her a toy or something like that. All her toys were shampoos, empty bottles, something like that, because we didn’t have much money. My wife was following my dream, too, together, so it means a lot to me right now that I can make a living and give back to them what they suffered together with me — the pursuing of this dream.”
“I never saw so much money in my wallet. I never had more than $100. The most money that I’ve ever had in my wallet was when I came to the UFC and they gave us money for food,” he said. “It’s unbelievable.”
