Issue 177

April 2019

When he’s not taking care of business in the Octagon, Al Iaquinta works in real estate, but the territory he really covets is at the top of the crowded UFC lightweight division 

Words: Jim Edwards

Al Iaquinta

UFC Lightweight

Age: 31

Record: 14-4-1

Team: Serra-Longo

From: Seaford, New York

It’s hard to believe, but Al Iaquinta isn’t just a world-class fighter, he’s also a highly renowned realtor in Long Island, New York and when he’s not training or fighting, he’s in the office grafting.

 The 31-year-old has had a turbulent few years with knee injuries and contract issues, but with that all now behind him he sits at number four in the UFC lightweight rankings and within striking distance of a second shot at a UFC title should things fall into place for him this year.

 Fans last saw Iaquinta in the UFC Octagon when he fought rival Kevin Lee on the last ever UFC on Fox fight card on December 15. Iaquinta went on to defeat Lee for the second time in his career via unanimous decision and put to bed a heated rivalry that had been going back and forth online since their first fight in February 2014. 

Despite all three judges giving Iaquinta the nod on the cards (48-47, 48-47, 49-46), Lee was critical about the scoring of the fight and has since spoken openly about his disappointment. Sitting down to speak exclusively to Fighters Only, Iaquinta makes it clear that he doesn’t understand Lee’s reaction and that Lee should be looking closer to home for why he lost.

 “I think you can make a case that I won every single one of the five rounds and for him, you can’t do that at all,” Iaquinta says bluntly. “He literally can’t say anything about most of the fight. I think I clearly won more rounds and you can make a damn good argument that I shut him out. He took my back and took me down, but in those rounds I was lighting him up on the feet and hurting him more than he ever did me. He was a total fish out of water standing and I think after the fight he’s just kinda short-circuited.

 “He can’t accept a loss and I think that’s a huge problem for him,” Iaquinta continues. “I think if he could accept it and see what he was doing wrong and go fix it then he’d do better. He’s blaming everyone but himself though and he’s already blaming his corner, his coaches, the judges; he’s blaming a million different people and that’s not the attitude of someone that improves from a loss. That’s the attitude of someone who will just make the same mistakes over and over again.”

 Lee’s pre-fight antics and flamboyant style have often rubbed opponents up the wrong way and Iaquinta has never needed a second invitation to fire back. “The Motown Phenom” has always presented himself as a larger-than-life character but Iaquinta believes that Lee isn’t being his true self with this approach and that it’s to his own detriment.

 “I know he’s still going on about how unjust the fight was and this and that, but I just know that’s the person he is,” Iaquinta laughs. “Deep down he knows somewhere that he lost that fight and that he’s not being the person he truly is. He’s dressed all crazy, using ebonics language and broken English, but the truth is he has a degree in biology. He knows what’s what and he’s an educated person that is playing a ghetto UFC fighter character. It’s weird.

 “Maybe he thinks people will like that more, but the truth is that it’s a shame man,” he continues. “He’s not doing justice to his people and how he grew up. People would look up to him if he was just himself. He came out of a tough area, got a degree and made it to the UFC. That’s an awesome story, but he’s putting on this stupid front. Good luck to him.”

 With Lee now in the rear mirror, Iaquinta is firmly focused on what lies ahead of him in 2019. With champion Khabib Nurmagomedov apparently sitting on the sidelines until November, Iaquinta believes that it makes sense for him to fight another one of the top contenders in the division in a number one contender fight ahead of his return later in the year.

 “I’m back in the gym now training and getting ready,” he explains. “We’re looking at something in April with Dustin Poirier so hopefully that comes off. I hope they pay him what he wants to be paid to fight me and we both just get on with it. A win over Kevin Lee, I think that’s a huge win. I know Dustin has had a few good wins of late, but I think in that sense we’re really even in the rankings and everything. That’s the fight that I think should happen and I think Tony [Ferguson] is going to fight for an interim title. I don’t know who it would be, but I think for me anyway Dustin is the fight. This game is crazy though so we will see.”

 With Poirier ranked at number three in the UFC lightweight division, it would make a lot of sense for him to face Iaquinta ranked just one place below him. Despite Poirier’s wealth of experience having fought nearly twice as many times as Iaquinta in the Octagon, the Long Island native doesn’t believe Poirier is championship caliber.

 “I don’t think he is on the same level as some of the other guys if I’m honest,” he reasons “He fought Conor and we saw how that went, so he isn’t on his level. That was obviously a little while ago now and he’s got better, but I don’t see that much changing. I think he’s a very tough fighter but I don’t think he’s as tough as me. I also think he’s a very skilled fighter, but he’s not as skilled as me. He’s up there, right there, but I just think there’s something missing and that’s why he’s never got that title shot. He just always seems to lose the big fights.”

 A win over Poirier would put Iaquinta in a great position for another shot at the gold but he’s well aware that the lightweight title picture is crowded with contenders coming from all angles vying for a shot at the champion, Nurmagomedov. 

Whilst content with his own situation, Iaquinta admits he is a little frustrated with the number of divisions currently being held up by champions who aren’t defending their titles. 

 “The division is just held up at the minute, but I think that’s the way it’s going to be for now,” Iaquinta states. “A lot of the champions seem to be holding up their divisions. TJ [Dillashaw] is holding up a division, Cormier is holding up two divisions, Conor held up the division, Max is about to hold up a division, so it’s not really about the belt anymore. I don’t know what it is. 

“I’m going to keep focusing on winning and doing what I can to keep my momentum going and keep getting big fights. Everything will hopefully fall into place, but I got to make the right moves at the right time. I think I’m doing that and I’m training my a** off to be in the best shape when the chances come up.”

 “I think if I beat Dustin I’m going to be in the mix for that title shot,” Iaquinta continues. “I think Khabib will be coming back in November so I think we have to square away who is going to be the one that fights him at MSG. “I think it should be Tony vs Conor and then me vs Dustin, but now Cerrone is throwing his hat in the mix and Max is coming up from featherweight. We just got to see where the pieces of the puzzle fall and where it all goes.”

 Whilst the congested title picture may give Iaquinta headaches later this year, he’s happy that he’s not getting trouble from his knees. Iaquinta underwent surgery in 2015 to repair a lingering knee issue that flared up after his fight with Jorge Masvidal and he struggled for years after getting back to full fitness. Thankfully, Iaquinta believes he’s working with the right people and that he can train to the best of his ability to get ready for fights.

 “I’ve been continually going to the sports science lab on Staten Island and they’ve been doing amazing things with me,” he explains with a relieved smile. “We just make adjustments and now we pretty much just have it down to me training 100 percent like I used to before I got the injury.

 “Leading up to the Khabib fight I was training Paul Felder and I wasn’t even sure I was going to be training properly for that fight,” he continues. “I kinda discovered a way to work around my injuries to get a full training camp in and it just wasn’t ideal. My last fight against Lee was really the first fight I’ve been able to go full on throughout the whole training camp and I think you could see that in the fight.”

 Now back to full fitness, 2019 could prove to the best year of Iaquinta’s career. Whilst wanting to remain busy and give himself the best opportunity to fight for the title when Nurmagomedov returns, Iaquinta understands that he now commands a position where he can request big fights and take the ones that will be to his benefit.

 “I want to be really busy this year and I want to make sure I can get enough wins to be in contention to fight Khabib when he decides to come back,” he says. “I want quality over quantity, but if Khabib is back in November I’m going to have to get two big wins if I want that fight.

 “I’ll take them as they come, but who knows. This is a crazy sport. All I know is that I’ll be ready to go if I get the opportunity and when the time comes, I’ll be the champion.”