Stitch Duran loves ‘Mexican’ Conor McGregor and reveals background to his sacking from UFC

A week later and it still hurts.

Who takes cares of the cutmen when they get cut? That's the question a lot of UFC fans have been asking as the fallout from Stitch Duran's sacking by Dana White continues this week. It's just about seven days now since the legendary cutman was given notice his services were no longer required by the UFC, after he criticised the Reebok deal signed by the organisation. A number of fighters came out in support of Stitch who was unhappy with the new deal that saw him lose a number of his own sponsorship agreements. The Mexican, who has been involved in MMA since making his debut at UFC 33, told Newstalk's Off the Ball tonight that he's delighted that so many people have come out in support of his controversial views. He also explained the process behind letting him go,

"I don't have a contract. The contract we had was to represent them and let them (UFC) access to our stuff. I was not working under an agreement." "I had to say what I said because it was the right thing to do. The backlash was totally unexpected and I knew if I left the UFC there would be social media attention but I didn't expect it to go this way." "It's not about me, it's about the fans, and I'm sitting back looking at the messages on Facebook and I have a smile on my face and I'm sleeping at night. "I'm really happy the fans are behind me and the media and even the fighters too." "It started slow but now on social media they say what happened was wrong, and I tell my kids if you're right you can never be wrong."

Stitch admits that he enjoyed his time with the UFC but has been left disappointed by how it all ended,

"It was tremendous fun and it was a great opportunity. The money I was making was through my sponsors and the payscale was not even close to what I was getting in boxing.

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. 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 "I brought it out and everyone has to be PC but I'm the conversation at a lot of tables. I'm sure I'm a conversation in Dana's office."

Dana White was asked about Stitch's  sacking after the latest UFC event in Chicago at the weekend where he was  certain that the cutman would not be coming back to the UFC. The former boxing corner-man said he wasn't worried by White's claims that the two men were never friends

"Maybe I'm jabbing too hard at him but that's not much of counterpunch. "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."

Stitch was in the corner of the MGM Grand for Conor McGregor's interim title fight earlier this month as he treated Chad Mendes when facing the Irishman. The cutman recalled his first ever meeting with the Dubliner at one of McGregor's opening events in Sweden.

"The first time I met him in Stockholm and I was totally impressed." "I've always said the Irish are the Mexicans of Europe, you were born to fight. He's a total talent. He's a big stud no doubt about it."

H/T Newstalk