Al Iaquinta lost a bloody battle to veteran Donald Cerrone in the main event of last night’s (Sat., May 4, 2019) UFC on ESPN+ 9 from the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
The five-round headliner was full of exciting moments and exchanges (watch full highlights here). However, Iaquinta was ultimately unable to get inside of the taller Cerrone’s reach edge. ‘Cowboy’ was able to chew ‘Ragin” up with a steady attack of slapping low kicks, body kicks, and monster front kicks down the middle.
Ranked at No. 4 and looking for a title shot, Iaquinta was a game competitor to say the least. But he was also beaten and bloodied in the championship rounds. The doctor checked on him, but there was no way the Long Island-born slugger was going to quit, even if he if be came clear he was a tad overmatched.
The morning after the tough loss, Iaquinta issued a short statement on his Instagram account. In it, he put the focus on his teammate Merab Dvalishvili’s win at UFC Ottawa rather than his defeat:
“So happy for @merab.dvalishvili and his dominant performance last night. When I have great people like this by my side, Win or Lose, I’ve already Won.”
A classy response from Iaquinta after a tough setback in Canada. He earned a $50,000 bonus for the event’s clear ‘Fight of the Night.’ It’s not much of a consolation based on Iaquinta’s goal of fighting his way back into a rematch with Khabib Nurmagomedov. Iaquinta will regroup and continue his career against the top lightweights, something he’s shown to be excellent at the past year.
Win or lose, ‘Ragin” Al always comes to fight, and his fights are usually action-packed wars. For that reason, he’ll remain a must-see fighter when he does return.
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