Al Iaquinta will try to continue his lightweight resurgence tomorrow night (Sat., May 4, 2019) at UFC on ESPN+ 9 live on ESPN+ from inside Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, when he takes on fan favorite Donald Cerrone in the main event.
With a win over “Cowboy,” Iaquinta could land a future matchup with fellow lightweight contender Justin Gaethje, who is coming off a blistering finish over Edson Barboza this past March. While Gaethje believes Iaquinta wants no part of him inside of the Octagon, especially since the two were previously scheduled to fight last year, “Raging Al” has reassured fight fans that he fears no man.
“I’m definitely not scared of anybody,” Iaquinta told reporters during UFC on ESPN+ 9’s media day (h/t MMA Junkie). “I’m more scared of not fighting for my worth, like some of these guys are doing, I’m scared of not managing myself the right way, but definitely not scared of fighting anybody.”
Iaquinta, 32, has been one of the most consistent lightweight fighters on the roster since his debut in 2012. In total, the New York native has produced a 9-3 record with keys wins over Jorge Masvidal, Joe Lauzon, Diego Sanchez, and Kevin Lee twice. Iaquinta also went five rounds with Khabib Nurmagomedov for the lightweight title last year on just a few days notice, although he ended up losing via decision.
While a win over Cerrone will further pad Iaquinta’s UFC resume and bring him that much closer to another shot at lightweight gold, the Ultimate Fighter alum isn’t going to count his chickens before they hatch. Instead, Iaquinta is completely focused on beating “Cowboy” this weekend in Ottawa and getting that win out of the way.
“We’ll see what happens,” Iaquinta said. “We’ll see how the fight goes. The division’s crazy, so anything can happen. I’m just worrying about Saturday night. After Saturday night, if it goes as it should, if I do what I know what I can do, it’ll all work itself out.
“The division was kind of in crazy limbo for a while. I think it’s still up the air a little, but a good performance over a guy like ‘Cowboy’ is what I need right now and what will put me right up there with everybody.”
Should Iaquinta get past Cerrone and land a bout with Gaethje later this year he’s not too worried about the matchup. At the end of the day, Iaquinta believes he’s too technical for “Highlight’s” wild ways.
“He poked (Edson) Barboza in the eye (at UFC on ESPN 2 in March), no one ever said anything about that,” Iaquinta said. “He poked him right in the eye, he thinks – put a technical battle – he better come crazy. This technical stuff, he’ll be just technical enough to get his ass kicked, for sure.”
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