Junior Albini made his biggest ever paycheck — by a mile — at UFC on FOX 25 on Saturday night.
The heavyweight newcomer knocked out No. 12-ranked Timothy Johnson in the first round, surpassing expectations as the underdog. Albini has wanted to fight inside the Octagon ever since he first started fighting when he was a teenager, but this win wasn’t just about being able to check making it to the UFC off his bucket list.
Albini, up until now, has lived off very little. In his last nine pro fights, all of which he won, he was not paid a dime, he said. The Brazilian has worked side jobs, such as waiting tables at restaurants and working security at night clubs, to get by, while trying to “make it” in mixed martial arts.
“It was all for free. Many times I was spending my money for the hotel, to pay for tickets, travel, everything — even food,” he said in a post-fight scrum in Long Island, N.Y. (via MMA Fighting). “It’s been four years that I didn’t make any money from fighting. I was just pursuing my dream.”
Albini hasn’t been able to afford to buy his two-year-old daughter a toy, so she has played with empty shampoo bottles instead. That all changes now, Albini said. He bought his daughter her first toy earlier this week after receiving per diem from the UFC.
“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.”
He took home $70,000 in total for his debut victory — $10,000 for showing up, $10,000 for winning, and $50,000 for taking “Performance of the Night” honors. That is a life-changing amount of money for the heavyweight.
“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.”