Al Iaquinta was happy to get the win. But he was “raging” soon after.
After a split decision victory over Jorge Masvidal in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night: Mendes vs. Lamas on Saturday, the fans began booing when Iaquinta was being interviewed by Jon Anik. The fiery Iaquinta became irate.
“How are you gonna boo me?!” he screamed at the crowd. “I f*ckin’ fought my ass off! F*ck you!”
Iaquinta then left the cage in a huff. Anik looked stunned.
In an interview with Heidi Androl on the FOX Sports 2 post-fight show, Iaquinta explained himself.
“I train to be dominant the whole fight,” Iaquinta said. “But when the going gets tough, I can push through it. I showed my heart there. That’s why I got so emotional when the crowd started booing me.”
Iaquinta (12-3-1) came on strong late in the third round and probably took that one. But many people thought Masvidal (28-9) won the first and second. He nearly finished Iaquinta in the first and opened up a gaping cut under Iaquinta’s right eye.
Masvidal didn’t do nearly as much in the second and third rounds. Iaquinta believed he did enough to come away with a fourth straight victory.
“I was chasing him all around the cage,” Iaquinta said. “I felt like there was a good shot I was winning it.”
The Long Island native feels good about the victory, but the afternoon still left him with a bad taste in his mouth.
“How can you boo somebody that pushed through something like that and showed so much heart?” Iaquinta said. “I feel like they should be cheering that. If they were booing the judges, that’s cool. It just ate at my heart they were booing that performance.”
Iaquinta, 27, had three straight knockouts before the win over Masvidal. He was coming off a TKO of Joe Lauzon at UFC 183 in January. This victory should allow him to move up in the UFC’s lightweight contender rankings. He came in ranked No. 15, while Masvidal was No. 14.
Masvidal, 30, had won three straight coming into this bout and didn’t do much Saturday for his stock to drop. He should get another shot against a top opponent in the lightweight division next.
In the post-fight press conference, Iaquinta said Masvidal “coasted the last two rounds.”
“I think I did enough to win that fight, for sure,” Iaquinta said.
If not win the crowd over. Iaquinta said he looked down after the bout and saw two kids giving him the finger. That threw “Raging Al” into a fury.
“I was thinking, ‘If you were standing here right now, what I would do to you,'” Iaquinta said. “I got so heated.”