Tag: Al Iaquinta

Al Iaquinta Suggests Loss To Green At UFC 268 Was His Last Fight

Lightweight veteran Al Iaquinta has admitted he “gave up” against Bobby Green at UFC 268, and suggested he’s likely to retire from the sport.

Iaquinta, who’s fought in the UFC ever since a defeat to Michael Chiesa in The Ultimate Fighter 15 Lightwe…

UFC 268: Iaquinta vs. Green, Al Iaquinta

Lightweight veteran Al Iaquinta has admitted he “gave up” against Bobby Green at UFC 268, and suggested he’s likely to retire from the sport.

Iaquinta, who’s fought in the UFC ever since a defeat to Michael Chiesa in The Ultimate Fighter 15 Lightweight Tournament final in 2012, has gone 1-4 across his last five fights. The torrid run began with his sole title fight in the promotion.

After building a five-fight winning streak, which included victories over Joe Lauzon, Jorge Masvidal, and Diego Sanchez, “Raging” Al found himself opposite Khabib Nurmagomedov in an extremely short-notice matchup in 2018. Iaquinta was originally set to face Paul Felder at UFC 223, but stepped in to face “The Eagle” after an injury to Tony Ferguson and concerns over first-choice replacement Max Holloway’s weight cut.

In the five-round main event, in which Iaquinta was ineligible to win the vacant belt, Khabib emerged victorious on the judges’ scorecards. Despite falling to his first defeat in four years, the New York native made it further than the likes of Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier, and Justin Gaethje did against the Dagestani.

After an immediate rebound win against Kevin Lee was followed by consecutive losses to Donald Cerrone and Dan Hooker, Iaquinta spent over two years away from the Octagon. He returned earlier this month in front of a home crowd inside Madison Square Garden. However, his comeback was spoiled by Green, who finished the 34-year-old in the opening round.

Iaquinta: “I’m Thinking That’s It”

Despite being closer to 30 than 40, Iaquinta believes fans have now seen him in action for the last time. During the latest episode of the Call Me Al Show, the former lightweight contender admitted the effort and training needed to compete at the highest level is simply not worth it for him anymore.

“Fighting again? I’m thinking that’s it, man, I’m thinking that’s it. That is the way to go out. Obviously, you want to go out on a win, but this shit is not worth it dude. You saw Michael Chandler and Justin Gaethje fight, those guys beat the hell out of each other. That wasn’t worth it.” (h/t BJPenn.com)

Iaquinta went on to admit that he essentially quit after being hit with a hard shot by Green on November 5. The 34-year-old’s apparent retirement comes after he “gave up” for the first time in his career. According to Iaquinta, his body is not up to competing anymore.

“To be honest with you, it was the first fight that I gave up in. He didn’t knock me unconscious, I kind of turned and covered up, I was conscious and knew what I was doing. I just wanted (out), that was it. I realize he hit me hard and it probably wasn’t going to be a good night for me. I was not confident in my preparation, my cardio, my wrestling. These guys are training hard, three times a day, two times a day, really hard. My body just can’t hold up to that anymore. This is the first time in my career ever that I gave up in a fight.”

Do you think Al Iaquinta has fought for the last time?

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Al Iaquinta Contemplating Retirement After He ‘Gave Up’ At UFC 268

Al IaquintaAl Iaquinta hasn’t confirmed that he is retiring but has admitted that hanging up the gloves has become a serious option.  After two years out of the UFC following his record of 1-3 with losses to the then champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, and fan favourites Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone and Dan Hooker.  ‘Raging’ returned to the Octagon […]

Al Iaquinta

Al Iaquinta hasn’t confirmed that he is retiring but has admitted that hanging up the gloves has become a serious option. 

After two years out of the UFC following his record of 1-3 with losses to the then champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, and fan favourites Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone and Dan Hooker. 

‘Raging’ returned to the Octagon at UFC 268 to fight fellow lightweight Bobby Green, but it wasn’t the return he was hoping for as he was TKO’d in the first round. 

Speaking on his YouTube channel “Call Me Al Show” the one-time lightweight title challenger revealed that he is almost certainly done with MMA.

“Fighting again? I’m thinking that’s it, man. I’m thinking that’s it,” Iaquinta said. “That’s the way to go out. Obviously you want to go out on a win, but this sh*t’s not worth it. You saw Michael Chandler and Justin Gaethje fight (at UFC 268). Those guys, they beat the hell out of each other. That wasn’t worth it.”

Iaquinta admits that mentally he quit at UFC 268 and just wanted out of the fight.

“To be honest with you, I don’t know, it was the first fight that I really gave up in,” Iaquinta said. “He didn’t knock me unconscious. I turned, and I covered up. I was still conscious, I knew what I was doing, but I kind of just wanted out. I realized he hit me hard, and it probably wasn’t gonna be a good night for me. I was not confident in my preparation. …

“It’s the first time in my career ever that I gave up in a fight. I used to watch people do that all the time, and I could never understand it. But at this point, it’s not life-changing money for me to go in there. When you’re younger, injuries happen and you heal. I’m 34 years old. You go in there, you get an injury, there’s a good shot it’s never gonna heal. Doctors, I used to think you get surgery, and they fix it. Doctors can fix anything. I don’t ever want to have surgery again.” (Transcribed by MMA Junkie)

The rise of Al Iaquinta

Iaquinta’s first mainstream exposure was in 2012 when he was competing on the “The Ultimate Fighter 15”.

Even though he lost in the lightweight final to Micheal Chiesa he was still signed to the UFC and made his debut in 2013. 

Everybody’s favourite Estate Agent would then make a storm through the lightweight division going 8-1 with wins over Kevin Lee, Jorge Masvidal and Diego Sanchez. 

Then getting the last-minute replacement fight for the lightweight title against Nurmagomedov, Khabib would dominate the fight but large parts but Iaquinta impressed people with his toughness and ability to force ‘The Eagle’ to strike with him in the later rounds. 

 
Do you think Al Iaquinta should retire?

Bobby Green Drops & Stops Al Iaquinta – UFC 268 Highlights

Bobby GreenBobby Green put on a flawless performance to beat Al Iaquinta at UFC 268. ‘King’ closed the show in round one with a big right hand and some follow-up strikes on the ground that Iaquinta had no answer for. Check out the highlights…

Bobby Green

Bobby Green put on a flawless performance to beat Al Iaquinta at UFC 268.

‘King’ closed the show in round one with a big right hand and some follow-up strikes on the ground that Iaquinta had no answer for.

Check out the highlights…

Dillon Danis Claims Al Iaquinta Ran From Him: ‘I Was About To Retire Your Ass’

DanisDillon Danis continues to talk trash UFC fighters. The latest target for the Bellator target is UFC lightweight contender Al Iaquinta who Danis claims to have seen last night only to run away when he came across him. “lucky you ran away last night @ALIAQUINTA i was about to retire your ass right on that […]

Danis

Dillon Danis continues to talk trash UFC fighters.

The latest target for the Bellator target is UFC lightweight contender Al Iaquinta who Danis claims to have seen last night only to run away when he came across him.

“lucky you ran away last night @ALIAQUINTA i was about to retire your ass right on that street.”

Of course, anyone even remotely interested in mixed martial arts should know this is a common practice for Danis who has become known for trash talking fighters he will more than likely never face.

His issue with Iaquinta, however, stems from mocking tweets from the latter following the conclusion of the Jake Paul vs. Ben Askren boxing match.

That said, it is highly unlikely Danis would have done anything to Iaquinta even if they were to get in close contact with each other. But again, we all know that Danis has to keep himself in the headlines in some form.

Thiago Moises Wants Ranked Opponent After Win Against Hernandez

Thiago Moises wants Al Iaquinta or a ranked opponent after beating out Alexander Hernandez on the judge’s scorecards last Saturday. At UFC Vegas 20, the two featherweight prospects capped off the preliminaries with one of the best fights of the n…

Thiago Moises wants Al Iaquinta or a ranked opponent after beating out Alexander Hernandez on the judge’s scorecards last Saturday. At UFC Vegas 20, the two featherweight prospects capped off the preliminaries with one of the best fights of the night. While a lot of the action was back and forth initially, it seemed Thiago […]

Al Iaquinta Rips Conor McGregor’s Performance At UFC 257

Conor McGregorUFC lightweight Al Iaquinta was banking on Conor McGregor to win by first-round KO against Dustin Poirier at UFC 257. However, 2 minutes into the second round, Poirier would go on to shock the world by knocking out McGregor. ‘Raging’ Al was not too happy with the Irishman’s showing. Iaquinta played ‘Mystic Mac’ ahead of […]

Conor McGregor

UFC lightweight Al Iaquinta was banking on Conor McGregor to win by first-round KO against Dustin Poirier at UFC 257. However, 2 minutes into the second round, Poirier would go on to shock the world by knocking out McGregor. ‘Raging’ Al was not too happy with the Irishman’s showing.

Iaquinta played ‘Mystic Mac’ ahead of the highest pay-per-view since UFC 229. The real estate agent would record a prediction video, explaining the psychology of the main event, playing into McGregor’s favor. He told his fans that McGregor’s ‘kumbaya’ with Poirier would leave ‘The Diamond’ too comfortable and in his state, would leave him open to being knocked out quick like the first time they fought.

“[McGregor] hit Poirier with the kumbaya.” said Iaquinta. “At the weigh-ins, the staredown. Connor gets in his stance, Dustin gets in his stance. Connor gets slow, Dustin gets low. Conor gets up. Dustin gets up. Conor starts talking, Dustin starts talking. [Poirier] is just a step behind and it’s like he’s a little star-struck. I think that translates right into the fight. Conor McGregor, first-round knockout.”

Iaquinta would later apologize to his fans who he convinced that McGregor would win, however, he cut no slack when it came to the former champion’s performance.

“Conor screwed me on that.” Iaquinta told MMA Island. “What the hell was that?”

“He goes in the cage and [Poirier’s] pounding the guy. That’s not Conor, what the hell? Come on dude, what the freak? He was doing the kumbaya too much. He made best friends with Dustin before the fight.”

“He got taken down, it was a weird takedown. It wasn’t a very clear shot, it kinda just fell into him. Conor was off balance. He got him down early. Conor gets back up, he’s against the cage, gets back off the cage, then he just stays there. That’s never the game-plan for him. The more grappling he does, the slower he gets. I think he should have broken away from that clinch. He should have started firing shots. He was just hanging out therw.”

“Then, the leg kicks. Dustin had a great game-plan. Southpaw against southpaw. Crushed that lead leg with leg kicks. Like Conor, switch up the game-plan. Switch your stances. I’ve been hit with those leg kicks, those things are not fun. You don’t want to stand there and take them. He didn’t change up much.”

“Dustin went out there with a great game-plan, Conor was one of the worst versions I’ve ever seen [of him]. He always has good hand speed, always accurate, he was winning with punches. Dustin at 155, he’s seeing the punches better, he’s absorbing them, landing them and taking them.”

“It was a definitely weird fight as far as I’m looking at for Conor.”

Al Iaquinta’s name has been mentioned in a pre-fight interview with Conor McGregor, randomly saying he’d like to fight Raging Al at some stage. The Long Islander says the Irishman is in ‘big trouble’ and is in ‘La La Land.’

“If you’re going to go against a guy like me, I don’t know… we’re not in the same spot in everything. He’s fighting a different animal, most of the guys really. Anybody I get in there against there’s not going to be no freaking kumbaya, I’m going after them.”

Al Iaquinta is open to fighting McGregor but has his eyes on Paul Felder, preferably in April.