Tag: Al Iaquinta

Al Iaquinta: Sean O’Malley stylistically a great fight for ‘absolute monster’ Aljamain Sterling

Al Iaquinta expects Aljamain Sterling to be too much for Sean O’Malley.

[autotag]Al Iaquinta[/autotag] expects [autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag] to be too much for [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag].

Bantamweight champion Sterling (23-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) defends his title against O’Malley (16-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC) Saturday in the main event of UFC 292, which takes place at TD Garden in Boston and airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.

Sterling, who retained his title against Henry Cejudo in May, admitted that his quick turnaround against O’Malley was against his will. But Iaquinta says it only took a couple of weeks for Sterling to realize he’s in shape and ready.

“Aljo is looking great. He probably would have went either way but I think that the fact that he’s feeling really good, he’s put in the work,” Iaquinta said in a recent episode of the Anik & Florian Podcast. “Right after that last fight, they kind of threw him right into this one. He was unsure how he would feel at this point.

“And I think we were all just like, ‘Aljo, a couple of weeks from now you’re going to be like, “Wow, I’m ready to go,”‘ and that’s exactly what happened. He took those two weeks off, he came back and now he’s in shape. He’s looking like an absolute monster, the best he’s looked in the gym, so he’s going into this one super confident. I think stylistically, it’s a great fight for him.”

In what is being dubbed as a striker vs. grappler fight, Iaquinta sees Sterling as a bad matchup for O’Malley.

“I know for a fact that O’Malley has never fought anyone near as good as Aljo, as tricky as Aljo, as cerebral in the cage as Aljo and as unorthodox,” Iaquinta said. “He’s never seen the striking. He’s never seen the movement – in every facet of the game. And then you get to his bread and butter – the grappling. God forbid this guy gets ahold of him. It’s not going to look good for O’Malley.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 292.

‘Big mistake’: Aljamain Sterling’s cornermen respond to Petr Yan’s threat of UFC 273 hotel fight

Petr Yan might not be willing to wait until UFC 273 to throw down with Aljamain Sterling, but that attitude doesn’t go both ways.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – [autotag]Petr Yan[/autotag] might not be willing to wait until UFC 273 to throw down with [autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag], but that attitude doesn’t go both ways.

During Wednesday’s media day, Yan (16-2 MMA, 8-1 UFC) said he’s ready to “kill” Sterling (20-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) and his whole team prior to Saturday’s bantamweight title unification bout at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.

Sterling found those comments to be utterly amusing, and expressed how he’s just fine with waiting until it’s a sanctioned scrap where both men will get paid for their physicality.

Those sentiments were echoed by Sterling’s teammates and cornermen. UFC lightweight [autotag]Al Iaquinta[/autotag] said he’s struggling to grasp what Yan’s angle is with his comments.

“He’s not going to do anything,” Iaquinta told MMA Junkie. “Fight’s on Saturday night and he’s got a lot to be worried about. He should leave the teams out of it. … Bad idea. Aljo’s doing his thing Saturday night. Good luck.”

UFC bantamweight [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag], who will also be in Sterling’s corner for the fight, said he’s not going to engage with Yan or his team prior to UFC 273. Afterward, however, will be an entirely different situation.

“He made big mistake,” Dvalishvili said. “Aljo will show him, Aljo will finish him. .. We gonna let him fight first then we’re going to take care of him and his team after.”

Tensions are clearly rising as the time for the Sterling vs. Yan rematch approaches. The first fight, which happened at UFC 259 in March 2021, saw Sterling win the 135-pound belt after absorbing an illegal knee that led to a disqualification.

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Al Iaquinta: ‘Fighting again? I’m thinking that’s it’ after UFC 268 loss

It wasn’t a definitive retirement announcement, but a dejected Al Iaquinta made it clear that hanging up his gloves is weighing heavily on his mind.

It wasn’t a definitive retirement announcement, but a dejected [autotag]Al Iaquinta[/autotag] made it clear Thursday night that hanging up his gloves for good has weighed heavily on his mind since UFC 268.

Iaquinta, fighting for the first time in two years, suffered a first-round TKO against Bobby Green on Nov. 6 for his third consecutive loss. Iaquinta also revealed on his “Call Me Al Show” that he at least partially tore his ACL during the fight.

Everything – from the way he feels physically to his performance at UFC 268 – has Iaquinta, 34, giving serious consideration to calling it a career.

“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.”

What’s more is what Iaquinta (14-7-1 MMA, 9-5 UFC) realized about his mental state during the fight-ending sequence with Green.

“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.”

It’s not just his in-fight thoughts that have Iaquinta contemplating retirement, but also his approach leading into it.

“This is the first time in my career I was leading up to it thinking, ‘I just don’t want to get hurt,'” Iaquinta said. “You can’t have that attitude going into it. You’ve got to be a savage motherf*cker to really get in that cage. The mindset you’ve got to have is, ‘I don’t give a sh*t about my body.’ Back in the day, I could’ve broken my nose, anything, and I would’ve kept going. Now? Eh, I live in a nice house, I got investment properties, (the UFC) is not paying me enough to sacrifice my body for the rest of my life. That’s the way I kind of feel about it.”

Iaquinta made his professional MMA debut in February 2009. His big break came in 2012 when he was a contestant on “The Ultimate Fighter 15.” Although he lost to Michael Chiesa in the lightweight final, he was still signed to the UFC and officially made his promotional debut in August 2013.

Iaquinta was 8-1 in the promotion and on a five-fight winning streak when he got an unexpected last-minute opportunity to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov for the vacant lightweight title in April 2018 at UFC 223. Iaquinta was dominated in the fight and lost by clean-sweep unanimous decision.

Iaquinta said on his show that he’s “crushing the real estate game” and plans to pour all his energy into his work, but he left the door open to potentially fight again.

“I start feeling good? I don’t know. You know what I mean? I might get that itch,” Iaquinta said. “I can’t even watch my teammates. I don’t even want to go to the gym right now. I’m just like, so, like, I don’t know if I’m jealous of them being able to do that, being able to train hard. That’s where I feel the most at home, and I don’t know if it’s gonna happen anytime soon for me.”

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UFC 268 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Venum era total passes $5 million

Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 268 took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $325,500.

NEW YORK – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 268 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $325,500.

The program, a comprehensive plan that includes outfitting requirements, media obligations and other items under the fighter code of conduct, replaces the previous payments made under the UFC Athlete Outfitting Policy.

UFC 268 took place at the Madison Square Garden. The main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPNews and ESPN+.

The full UFC 268 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

* * * *

[autotag]Kamaru Usman[/autotag]: $42,000
def. [autotag]Colby Covington[/autotag]: $32,000

[autotag]Rose Namajunas[/autotag]: $42,000
def. [autotag]Zhang Weili[/autotag]: $32,000

[autotag]Marlon Vera[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Frankie Edgar[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Shane Burgos[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Billy Quarantillo[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Justin Gaethje[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Andreas Michailidis[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Bobby Green[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Al Iaquinta[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Chris Curtis[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Phil Hawes[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Nassourdine Imavov[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Edmen Shahbazyan[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Ian Garry[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Jordan Williams[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Chris Barnett[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Gian Villante[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Dustin Jacoby[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]John Allan[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Melsik Baghdasaryan[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Bruno Souza[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Ode Osbourne[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]CJ Vergara[/autotag]: $4,000

Under the UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance program’s payout tiers, which appropriate the money generated by Venum’s multi-year sponsorship with the UFC, fighters are paid based on their total number of UFC bouts, as well as Zuffa-era WEC fights (January 2007 and later) and Zuffa-era Strikeforce bouts (April 2011 and later). Fighters with 1-3 bouts receive $4,000 per appearance; 4-5 bouts get $4,500; 6-10 bouts get $6,000; 11-15 bouts earn $11,000; 16-20 bouts pocket $16,000; and 21 bouts and more get $21,000. Additionally, champions earn $42,000 while title challengers get $32,000.

In addition to experience-based pay, UFC fighters will receive in perpetuity royalty payments amounting to 20-30 percent of any UFC merchandise sold that bears their likeness, according to officials.

Full 2021 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:

Year-to-date total: $5,112,500
Program-to-date total: $5,112,500

UFC 268 results: Bobby Green drops, hammers Al Iaquinta for first-round TKO

Bobby Green snapped his skid and picked up a finish with a thrilling stoppage of Al Iaquinta on the UFC 268 prelims.

[autotag]Bobby Green[/autotag] snapped his skid and picked up a finish with a thrilling stoppage of [autotag]Al Iaquinta[/autotag] on the UFC 268 prelims.

Green (27-12-1 MMA, 8-7-1 UFC) was accurate with his punches early and often. He found a home on Iaquinta’s (14-6-1 MMA, 9-5 UFC) chin with a perfect one-two combination that led to a knockout before he flurried to secure the TKO at the 2:25 mark of Round 1.

The lightweight bout was part of the UFC 268 preliminary card at Madison Square Garden in New York. It aired on ESPNews following additional prelims on ESPN+ and ahead of the main card on pay-per-view.

Iaquinta attempted to pressure Green from the outset and try to put his back against the fence. Green was mobile and accurate, though, and his power came through as he dropped Iaquinta to snap his two-fight losing skid.

Iaquinta, meanwhile, has lost three fights in a row and hasn’t seen his hand raised since December 2018.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 268 results include:

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Al Iaquinta: Six years in the making, Bobby Green fight at UFC 268 finally happening at ‘right time’

Originally lined up in 2015, the two lightweights will collide Saturday in New York City.

NEW YORK – It took six years to come to fruition, but [autotag]Al Iaquinta[/autotag] thinks his matchup with [autotag]Bobby Green[/autotag] is happening at the right time.

Originally lined up in 2015, the fight never materialized. Now in 2021, Iaquinta (14-6-1 MMA, 9-5 UFC) and Green (27-1-12 MMA, 8-7-1 UFC), two of the promotion’s most seasoned lightweights, will square off on the UFC 268 prelims Saturday at Madison Square Garden.

“We were supposed to fight in 2015 and that fight never ended up happening,” Iaquinta told MMA Junkie at a pre-fight news conference. “So in my head, I was like, ‘Oh, Bobby Green.’ He didn’t win (hist last) fight but I honestly thought he won the fight. It was a great fight and he came on strong at the end. Then, the next day, my manager texted me, ‘The UFC just offered you Bobby Green at MSG.’ I’m like, ‘Perfect, I’m in.’ It all just came together at the right time. That’s how it came together and it worked out really good.”

Iaquinta’s eagerness to fight Green stems from his respect. He’s enjoyed watching Green’s willingness to take on all comers. Regardless of divisional standing, Green is a high-action fighter, and Iaquinta is excited to test himself after a 25-month absence from competition.

“I think that’s Bobby Green’s thing. He keeps it close,” Iaquinta said. “He’s got a really unique style. He’s been fighting often. I’m going in there to fight. I’m not going in there to do anything else or have a good show or whatever. I’m going in there to fight and win. I think that’s going to be the difference.

The UFC 268 main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPNews/ESPN+ and early prelims on ESPN+.

Check out Al Iaquinta’s full pre-fight news conference in the video above.

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Rose Namajunas vs. Zhang Weili 2 among latest additions to official UFC 268 card

UFC 268 is officially on tap for New York City – and the card is already stacked.

UFC 268 is officially on tap for Nov. 6 at Madison Square Garden in New York City – and the card is filling up with notable names.

On the UFC on ESPN 30 broadcast Saturday, the promotion made the previously reported welterweight title fight rematch between champion [autotag]Kamaru Usman[/autotag] (19-1 MMA, 14-0 UFC) and [autotag]Colby Covington[/autotag] (16-2 MMA, 11-2 UFC) official.

It won’t be the only title fight rematch, however, as a second meeting between women’s strawweight champion [autotag]Rose Namajunas[/autotag] (10-4 MMA, 8-3 UFC) and the woman she took the title from, [autotag]Zhang Weili[/autotag] (21-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC). The two most recently competed against one another at UFC 261 in April when Namajunas dropped Weili with a head kick and finished the fight with strikes.

Two other fights that were not previously announced were announced Saturday by the promotion as well. A women’s bantamweight contender fight between [autotag]Germaine de Randamie[/autotag] (10-4 MMA, 8-3 UFC) and [autotag]Irene Aldana[/autotag] (13-6 MMA, 6-4 UFC) as well as a lightweight fight between [autotag]Al Iaquinta[/autotag] (14-6-1 MMA, 9-5 UFC) and [autotag]Bobby Green[/autotag] (27-12-1 MMA, 12-8-1 UFC) are on tap, too.

With the additions, the UFC 268 lineup now includes:

  • Champion Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington – for welterweight title
  • Champion Rose Namajunas vs. Zhang Weili – for women’s strawweight title
  • Michael Chandler vs. Justin Gaethje
  • Luke Rockhold vs. Sean Strickland
  • Frankie Edgar vs. Marlon Vera
  • Nassourdine Imavov vs. Edmen Shahbazyan
  • Irene Aldana vs. Germaine de Randamie
  • Al Iaquinta vs. Bobby Green

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Fighters line up, lobby for Sean O’Malley matchup after Louis Smolka’s UFC 264 withdrawal

Is there anyone who DOESN’T want to fight Sean O’Malley?

As it stands, [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] doesn’t have a UFC 264 opponent – but he has no shortage of potential suitors.

Shortly after news surfaced Tuesday that O’Malley’s original opponent, Louis Smolka, withdrew from their July 10 pay-per-view main card bout, an assortment of fighters took to social media to lobby for the opening.

The callouts and challenges for O’Malley (13-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) stretched beyond the bantamweight division as even some flyweights and featherweights raised their hands.

Scroll below to read a running list of the fighters eager to compete against “The Suga Show” at UFC 264.

Callout Collection: Who UFC 257 winners want next – and how likely they’ll get them

Michael Chandler and Julianna Pena were among those who name-dropped their preferred next opponents at UFC 257 in Abu Dhabi.

Earning wins in the UFC is certainly no easy task, but what comes next is often even more important: the post-fight callout.

So, after Saturday’s UFC 257 event in Abu Dhabi, who took advantage of their time on the mic?

See below for this week’s Callout Collection – and just how realistic each one is.

Rafael Fiziev calls out Al Iaquinta following UFC 256 win, but ‘Ragin’ Al’ says it’s unlikely to happen

Rafael Fiziev is ready to break into the UFC’s lightweight rankings and has called out a former title challenger.

[autotag]Rafael Fiziev[/autotag] says he’s ready to break into the UFC’s lightweight rankings, and he’s identified the ideal next opponent to help him make a splash at 155 pounds.

After picking up his biggest win to date over Renato Moicano this past weekend at UFC 256, Fiziev wants a crack at former lightweight title challenger [autotag]Al Iaquinta[/autotag].

Fiziev (9-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC), who earned the “Performance of the Night” bonus for his first-round finish of Moicano, took to Twitter to call Iaquinta out.

“What’s up @ALIAQUINTA? How about me vs you and @funkmasterMMA vs my brother @PetrYanUFC on the same card? @tigermuaythai VS Long Island Fire“

Iaquinta (14-6-1 MMA, 9-5 UFC) praised the Tiger Muay Thai prospect for his win, but kindly turned down his request.

“Great fight tonight but probably not going to happen unfortunately.”

After receiving some criticism on Twitter for not accepting the fight, Iaquinta went onto clarify that he’s currently rehabbing after undergoing two surgeries.

Iaquinta, who has lost three of his past four, hasn’t competed since October 2019, when he suffered a unanimous decision loss to Dan Hooker in the co-main event of UFC 243.

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