Al Iaquinta reveals he’s in talks with the UFC over a potential scrap with Justin Gaethje this summer.
Al Iaquinta vs. Justin Gaethje, anyone?
According to ‘Raging Al’, he’s entered talks with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) over a lightweight matchup with ‘The Highlight’, and he’s hoping to get the fight booked for August or September.
Iaquinta revealed the news on a recent episode of his podcast, where he told a fan that he expects a ‘tough fight’ with Gaethje, the former World Series of Fighting (WSOF) lightweight champion.
“We’re hoping for sometime in August,” Iaquinta said yesterday on Call Me Al, per BJPenn.com’s Tom Taylor. “August, September. I think they wanted it to be sooner, but like, that guy needs a rest. I was looking out for his health with that one. He needs a break for a minute.”
“If it goes down the way it’s supposed to, it’ll be a good fight, a tough fight.”
Iaquinta, 31, last fought at UFC 223 where he dropped a lopsided decision to the undefeated Khabib Nurmagomedov at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. Iaquinta stepped up on short notice after Khabib’s original opponent, Tony Ferguson, was forced to withdraw from the championship bout at the last minute due to a ‘freak’ injury.
Gaethje, 29, made his UFC debut in 2017 and has lived up to his reputation as one of the most exciting brawlers in the lightweight division, having earned Fight of the Night honors in all three of his fights for the promotion. The Colorado-based talent is 1-2 in the UFC, having TKO’d Michael Johnson in his Octagon debut but succumbing to Eddie Alvarez and Dustin Poirier in the later rounds at UFC 218 and UFC on FOX 29.
If what Iaquinta says is true, and all things go according to plan, expect an official announcement from the UFC in the coming weeks.
