Junior Dos Santos made his pro wrestling debut with AEW last weekend and claims that it’s the best he’s felt in a long time. Speaking with the Trocação Franca podcast, he opened up about his mistreatment at the hands of the UFC.
“They were really unprofessional, let’s put it this way, with the way they treated [me], like they [treat] everybody else. I wasn’t the first and won’t be the last. The last two fights I got were on those terms, ‘You take it or you’re out.’
Junior Dos Santos Slams “Unprofessional” UFC
I was always a nice guy because that’s how I like to be, I like being nice to people so people are nice to me. I learned to be that way in life, to never expect from others something I don’t give them.
I was always a nice guy, treating everybody well, always smiling, and in a way they took advantage of it, or treated it as a weakness, kind of putting me down, I don’t know.
They tried to take the most advantage they could of the athlete I built, of Junior ‘Cigano,’ especially the way the last fight was, something really odd.”
Dos Santos at the time was riding high on a win streak that included notable victories over Derrick Lewis, Tai Tuivasa and Blagoy Ivanov. However, this preceded a four-fight skid that ultimate led this year to the UFC releasing Dos Santos from his contract.
He was a major star at home in Brazil, but Dos Santos says he was vastly underpaid by the promotion. “The money I made to live came from my sponsors.
The money I made in fights, I normally spent it all in my camps because I brought people from outside to help me and paid their costs there [in Brazil] with cars and a house. I gave them a good structure with my fight purses.
Monthly, whatever happened, the [sponsorship] money was in my account. It was extremely important for me and, in my case, [the Reebok deal] was a big hit. It put us all on the same level. Even though some fighters had contracts with Reebok or Monster, it was more of a symbolic deal, it wasn’t that good.””
Dos Santos may well return to mixed martial arts in future, but for now he’s happy doing what he’s doing. Are you looking forward to more wrestling from Junior Dos Santos, or would you like to see him back in the Octagon? Let us know in the comments.
Remember to stay up to date with the latest news on TheOvertimer. Don’t forget to visit ScreenJuicer for great videos, news, and gameplay!
