Last week many UFC fighters did not bother to hide their disappointment when the mixed martials arts organisation decided to cut ties with professional cutman Jacob 'Stitch' Duran.
He had been fired due to comments he made about the not-so-universally popular sponsorship deal the UFC has made with sportswear brand Reebok.
The deal means fighters will have to wear Reebok apparel at UFC-sanctioned events and it has not gone down well with everyone as some say it reduces their own sponsorship opportunities.
Tonight on Off The Ball, Stitch joined us to tell us his side of the story and he also explained that cutmen, who treat the fighters' injuries, are also affected financially by the nature of the Reebok deal.
"That's what made it really impossible for me to continue working with the UFC because the majority of the money I was making was through my sponsors. In the event that I work with the UFC, the pay-scale was definitely not even close to what I was getting in boxing. So when they took the sponsors away that changed the whole landscape of what I have to do because I have a family to support," he told Joe and Colm, adding that he and others had shared reservations as far back as a year ago.
Dana White (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Duran also said that he "was literally working under no agreement" in terms of contract at the time he was fired, but did not expect the "backlash" that has come in his favour from some fighters and fans.
But UFC president Dana White has not been backing down and has publicly stated that "Stitch Duran was never my friend".
"That's not much of a counter-punch," Duran responded.
"He says he never deals with cutmen. But he's the one who started this programme and as a general you always know who's in the frontlines and who's in the backlines. That's just good strategy and if you get Dana to name three cutmen outside of myself and Don House, he has no clue and didn't really appreciate the things that we did."
Duran also talked Conor McGregor, having served as a cutman for opponent Chad Mendes on the July 11th interim featherweight title fight in Las Vegas and remembered the first time he met the Dubliner in Stockholm.
"I was totally impressed. I walked into the dressing room and said 'man, you know what - and I've always said it - the Irish are the Mexicans of Europe because you guys can fight and were born to fight like us'. He's a total talent, no doubt about it."
Listen to the full interview via the podcast.
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