It turns out Al Iaquinta (10-3-1) knew something the rest of us didn’t.
When he boldly proclaimed he would be better than Ross Pearson standing, knowledgeable fans and insiders scoffed. Pearson, after all, was one of the lightweight division’s most technical strikers, a smooth operator capable of making the less savvy look lost.
“He ain’t gonna stand in the pocket and throw leather with me,” Pearson told Fox Sports before the fight. “He’s gonna try to take me down 100 percent. As soon as he feels my power, he ain’t gonna stand there. He knows if I touch him once, he’s going out.”
Iaquinta, for all his bravado, was a grappler first. A former wrestler at Nassau Community College, his striking game was still very much a work in progress.
He was, it seemed, biting off more than he could comfortably chew.
All things, of course, are settled in the cage. That’s the beauty of sport. It’s one thing for Iaquinta to talk about what he was going to do to Pearson. Anyone can talk. Some fighters, like Conor McGregor and Chael Sonnen, have made it an art form.
In the end, action talks loudest. And “Raging” Al’s fists were screaming against Pearson. After a closely contested first round, Iaquinta dropped Pearson with a right hand and then swarmed, landing punch after punch on the hapless Brit before the referee mercifully jumped in to stop the fight.
“I said I was coming in here to strike,” Iaquinta told the crowd after the fight. “I’m confident and I train with the best guys in the world…freaking reporters at that press conference asking why I thought my stand up was better. This is why.”
In the crowd, no one was happier than UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman. Iaquinta‘s training partner at Serra-Longo in New York shadow-boxed along with the finish, thrilled at a win that will likely propel his teammate into the loaded lightweight division’s top 15.
It had the makings of a star turn—but if his fists left any doubt, Iaquinta‘s subsequent interview in the cage with UFC announcer Dan Hardy settled it once and for all.
“I’m going to go suplex a kangaroo,” he told Hardy of his future plans. “I’m going to put Jaws in the camel clutch. I’m going to make the lightweight division humble.”
It was an homage to pro wrestling great Iron Sheik. It was also a clear announcement that there is a new player at 155 pounds. Still just 27, Iaquinta could very well be on the fast-track to fame and fighting fortune.
Winning fights, at least in the post-McGregor era, isn’t nearly enough to make your mark in this industry. There are more great fighters than ever. Being a great fighter alone doesn’t cut it. You have to be entertaining as well.
Iaquinta clearly gets it. Lots of guys do. In the months to come we’ll see more and more guys attempt to catch fans’ eyes with a flashy post-fight interview. When they fall short it’s going to be brutal. But when they nail it, like Iaquinta did here, the results will be pure magic.
Al Iaquinta is for real. He said he was going to stand and bang. He delivered—and did so against one of the division’s best strikers. He’s ready for a top opponent. And this time, when he talks, we’d be smart to listen.
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