Heavyweight fighters Junior Albini made his UFC debut at UFC On Fox 25, scoring a first round knockout win over Timothy Johnson.
With his first UFC win behind him, the heavyweight plans on buying his daughter toys for the first time.
“I was never able to buy her a toy or something like that,” Albini said after the event to reporters. “All of her toys were like shampoos, empty bottles, 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.”
Prior to his time in the UFC, the heavyweight would work odd jobs while competing just to make ends meet for his family. Albini also admits that he never got paid much in his last nine fights before his UFC debut. He ended up walking away with a $50,000 bonus for Saturday as well.
“My last nine fights I didn’t earn anything, it was all for free,” Albini said. “Many times I was spending my money to go to the hotel, to pay tickets, travel and even food, so it’s been like four years that I didn’t make any money from fighting. I was just pursuing my dream.”
The Brazilian pulled quite the upset at UFC On Fox 25, as his opponent in Timothy Johnson headed into the event as the #12 ranked heavyweight.
Fightful Managing Editor discussed the situation on the Fightful.com MMA Podcast, which you can see at this link.
