There is an ongoing beef between Al Iaquinta and former UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson. It all started at UFC 223, when ‘El Cucuy’ pulled out due to a knee injury, in the process many fighters fall out, at last UFC choose “Ragin’ Al” as the last-minute replacement to fight undefeated Khabib Nurmagomedov for the main event.
Iaquinta unable to get his job done and ended up losing via a dominant decision to Nurmagomedov. But at the same time, many fellow UFC fighters and analysis, criticize how Khabib ended up scoring the title against a number 11-ranked fighter.
Earlier this week, “El Cucuy” questioned the UFC’s decision to strip him of the interim title. In an attempt to throw shade at Khabib, Iaquinta was caught in the crossfire.
Al Iaquinta appeared as a guest on the recent episode of Podcast One’s Submission Radio, where he discussed the Tony Ferguson’s beef: (Quotes via MMAMania)
“Right now, I could beat the shit out of Tony Ferguson with my pinky finger. The guy can’t even walk. You can’t talk shit right now. If I had to pull out of a title fight because I tripped over a wire, you’re not hearing me talk shit on twitter at all. If it wasn’t for fighting he’d be like a worthless person. There’s no point to Tony Ferguson besides, honestly, really like, people beating his ass. He gets dropped every fight and he’s out of his mind. No one likes personality, he’s a weird dude. ]You tripped on a wire and I got the title shot, now you’re gonna come at me? I’ve fought with worse injuries than that, guaranteed, in my career. Don’t come after me cause I took advantage of a situation that he couldn’t capitalize on. How many fights in a row has he won? 10 fights? And he still hasn’t fought for a title? There’s a reason for that. No one likes you. Go away.”
Ferguson, currently riding on a 10-fight win streak, will remain on the shelf for at least 6-9 months while he recovers from a gnarly knee injury.
Al Iaquinta was originally scheduled to face Paul Felder in a three-round bout at UFC 223. Prior to his loss to ‘Eagle’, Iaquinta was on a five-fight win streak.
