Midnight Mania! Iaquinta: ‘Cerrone Beat The Sh*t Out of Me’

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Al Iaquinta took stock nearly a month after his Fight of the Night main event against Donald Cerrone today, and he said he is just now starting to regain his mobility. Transcript via MMAJunkie.com:

“I broke my nose, I fractured my (right) orbital bone and had some deep bruising on my legs because of those kicks,” Iaquinta said during a Tuesday appearance on “Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show.” on ESPN.com. “(The bruising from the kicks) was brutal. I’m just finally starting to be able to move around. It took its toll. That won’t happen again, that’s for sure.”

The leg kicks weren’t the only damage Cerrone dealt out in the bout. Iaquinta was cut open and dropped twice, but somehow hung tough and survived through the final bell.

“He hit me with a stiff jab that I don’t know if it broke my nose, it cut my nose open,” Iaquinta said. “He hit me with a bunch of shots so it could have been any one. He did cut me open; that could’ve been the one. I think it was somewhere in the third round where he caught me in the eye, the third or the fourth round. It definitely affected my vision, and it definitely was something tough to fight through. But it is what it is. I train to be in those situations.”

He had his moments, especially early on, rocking Cerrone a couple times with heavy hooks, but ultimately it was ‘Cowboy’ who dug deep to get the win in the later rounds. Despite the damage, though, Ragin’ Al had absolutely no excuses.

“I had every opportunity to win the fight, and I should’ve, but I didn’t,” Iaquinta said. “He beat the (expletive) out of me the way a veteran gets it done. He’s good, man. He’s good.”

Iaquinta hopes to return better than ever, targeting a November event in his native New York. Win or lose, he certainly won respect that night in the Octagon with ‘Cowboy’. Cerrone, meanwhile, is scheduled to fight an even more insane man, Tony ‘El Cucuy’ Ferguson, UFC 238 on June 8th.

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Insomnia

I’ll be honest, IKEA saps my life force every time I enter that store, but the UFC brought a little creativity on this visit to my ancestral homeland, and I can appreciate that.

Noted kickboxer and former two-division Glory champion Robin Van Roosmalen has signed with Bellator, where he could fight in both MMA and kickboxing. Great choice for him, great signing for Bellator. Would be fun to see him matched with, say, the Dream Killer, Gaston Bolanos.

Somehow this worked effortlessly

Nothing like a good hard judo toss

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Random Land

Last night was the owl, this night we have accidental terror

Sleep well, Maniacs! A better tomorrow is always possible. Follow me on Twitter and Facebook @Vorpality