Ever since he missed out on a performance bonus, Al Iaquinta has been tearing up a variety of UFC fighters and officials on Twitter. He has now proclaimed himself the new president of the UFC.
Some fighters don’t live up to their nicknames. There are lots of Pitbulls and Warriors and Assassins, but how many of them really suit the person they’re associated with? Fear not though folks, because there is one UFC fighter that has a nickname that describes him perfectly – Ragin’. As in Ragin’ Al Iaquinta.
Iaquinta knocked out Diego Sanchez in under two minutes in his return to the cage last week in Nashville, but failed to win a performance bonus for his efforts. He was very unhappy with that, and took to Twitter to bluntly tell the UFC what he thought of that decision. Since then, he has continued to lash out on the social media network, notably going after former opponent Kevin Lee and one of his favorite targets, Sage Northcutt.
He then got involved in a war of words with the guy that won the performance bonus over him, welterweight Mike Perry.
@PlatinumPerry tell ur girlfriend @danawhite take out his checkbook I’ll knock you out hillbilly
— Al Iaquinta (@ALIAQUINTA) April 29, 2017
@danawhite please let me smash this fool. He talks to much https://t.co/HoQ5h2JegZ
— Platinum Mike Perry (@PlatinumPerry) April 29, 2017
Get off your knees you’re embarrassing yourself $ https://t.co/4uFTo7cTQO
— Al Iaquinta (@ALIAQUINTA) April 29, 2017
Dana White responds to twitter eggs but not Mike Perry… sad!
— Al Iaquinta (@ALIAQUINTA) April 29, 2017
Last night in a stream of tweets, Iaquinta declared himself the new President of the UFC, humorously called out featherweight Cub Swanson and Justin Gaethje, and kept picking on Perry, Lee, and Northcutt along with taking shots at UFC president Dana White. He also did it in a tone very similar to the way US President Donald Trump tweets, which added a whole new layer to the amusement:
Mike Perry & Kevin lee… Flint & Detroit. Very high poverty rates! Think they are paid but are taken advantage of… Young and ignorant!
— Al Iaquinta (@ALIAQUINTA) April 29, 2017
Looks like @danawhite has been impeached https://t.co/hpCxvQamwp
— Al Iaquinta (@ALIAQUINTA) April 29, 2017
.@sagenorthcutt you are being cut sorry kid. Get some experience outside the UFC maybe we’ll bring you back for TUF
— Al Iaquinta (@ALIAQUINTA) April 29, 2017
Iaquinta somehow called out Swanson because of some tickets that WME-IMG had provided to him for Stagecoach. When a fan asked if Iaquinta had got his, he said he’d fight Swanson for them. The two men then engaged in a funny round of minor smack talk:
@ALIAQUINTA @Jbro22 @Stagecoach Why you trying to fight me now?
— Cub Swanson (@CubSwanson) April 30, 2017
@ALIAQUINTA @Jbro22 @Stagecoach You can come by my gym and we can have a go any time
— Cub Swanson (@CubSwanson) April 30, 2017
As new president of the UFC I’m announcing cub Swanson vs me at Nassau colliiseum
— Al Iaquinta (@ALIAQUINTA) April 30, 2017
You can meet Dana White serving beers and hot dogs at the main entrance
— Al Iaquinta (@ALIAQUINTA) April 30, 2017
@ALIAQUINTA @Jbro22 @Stagecoach I have a broken hand so the commission wouldn’t clear me (even tho I’m confident I’d beat you with one hand). Do your research next time
— Cub Swanson (@CubSwanson) April 30, 2017
@CubSwanson @Jbro22 @Stagecoach my bad… heal up and the title shot is yours
— Al Iaquinta (@ALIAQUINTA) April 30, 2017
Then it was back to the Trump-style tweets again, acting as the new UFC president:
Cub Swanson injured! Very unfortunate… We will be reaching out to Justin Gaethje… tremendous fighter!
— Al Iaquinta (@ALIAQUINTA) April 30, 2017
Gaethje actually responded to this one:
@ALIAQUINTA i’m down anybody anywhere @seanshelby @danawhite
— Justin Gaethje (@Justin_Gaethje) April 30, 2017
Stitch Duran is incredible! We will be reaching out to him… of course allowing him to use Stitch Tape® once again… Great product!
— Al Iaquinta (@ALIAQUINTA) April 30, 2017
We will be reaching out to Burt Watson! He had the fighters best interest at heart! Incredible energy!
— Al Iaquinta (@ALIAQUINTA) April 30, 2017
White then became a target again for a little while:
Warrior king that never was one pic.twitter.com/4u7ca037bx
— Al Iaquinta (@ALIAQUINTA) April 30, 2017
Reebok has great footwear and apparel! They are not happy re @UFC deal. Too much bad press!
— Al Iaquinta (@ALIAQUINTA) April 30, 2017
The hard working employees of Las Vegas know the real story about Dana white tipping habits… Cheap!
— Al Iaquinta (@ALIAQUINTA) April 30, 2017
And of course, one final parting shot at a man he has threatened to stuff in a locker in the past, Northcutt:
Reebok is not happy about signing sagenorth cut! he will not produce.. Dana ruined him… no development… SAD! https://t.co/XbVeC4EjOB
— Al Iaquinta (@ALIAQUINTA) April 30, 2017
While some fans may not be amused by all of this, I personally find Iaquinta to be hilarious. We’ll have to see how much longer the talented lightweight, who is on a five-fight win streak in the UFC, will keep it up.