Al Iaquinta was originally scheduled to fight Justin Gaethje this weekend at UFC Fight Night 135, but ‘Raging Al’ decided to pull out of the bout to rest his shoulder and sell some real estate instead.

Speaking to Marc Raimondi of MMA Fighting, Iaquinta said he made enough money in real estate this summer to skip out on a UFC paycheck altogether.

“Basically, in the time that I would have trained for that fight, I made as much money selling real estate,” Iaquinta said. “So, it’s not a money thing. I enjoyed my summer. I wasn’t going to bed injured every night, I wasn’t waking up with a sore neck. I didn’t have to worry about Justin Gaethje’s crazy ass. I’m doing what I want to do. If they made it worth it for me, I would have. I’m making my show money in that amount of time when these deals close out. It’s crazy that a real estate agent on Long Island can make their show money for headlining a five-round fight against a top-six, top-seven guy in the world.”

Iaquinta, who lost in a short notice title fight to Khabib Nurmagomedov earlier this year, has had a turbulent relationship with the UFC in the past and feels he’s not compensated enough for his efforts. That’s why the former title challenger had no problem saying ‘f-ck this’ over a scheduled main event slot with Gaethje.

“The rest of the fighters, they all would have taken the fight, you know what I mean?” he said. “They all would have taken it and they would have had to push through the injury. I was like, you know what? F*ck this. I’m gonna make just as much money walking around, meeting people selling real estate. I’m making great connections with people like me — my kind of people. It’s a beautiful thing.”

The 31-year-old went on to say that he has ‘given up’ on the UFC getting behind him and is happy to train carefree and make his money in real estate.

“I’m training, I’m having fun in the gym,” Iaquinta said. “I’m training when I want to train. I’m getting better when I want to get better. I don’t have to do anything. Am I missing out on opportunities? Maybe. It’s too much stress. I’m having fun with my life now. I’ve given up on the UFC getting behind me. So I’m just getting behind myself.”

In Iaquinta’s absence from UFC Fight Night 135, surging lightweight contender James Vick has stepped in as his replacement and will lock horns with Gaethje in the new main event. Fight Night: Gaethje vs. Vick takes place this Saturday, August 25 at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska.