Al Iaquinta Not Interested In Justin Gaethje Fight
Al Iaquinta is not interested in a fight with Justin Gaethje next.
“”Ragin'” was recently interviewed by MMAjunkie to discuss what’s next for him inside the Octagon. When the possibility of fighting Gaethje was mentioned, Iaquinta said he’s uninterested as he prefers to fight up the rankings:
“I’m looking up in the rankings,” Iaquinta said. “I think Gaethje, he’s kind of had his opportunity, and he chose to fight Vick. He wanted to do what was best for him, so now I’m going to do what’s best for me.
“Fighting below me in the rankings is definitely not (it). It’s a good fight, but I think there’s guys that’ll put me right up there. Those are the guys I’m gunning for.
Iaquinta was on a five-fight win streak before having it snapped by Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 223 this past April. Khabib defeated Iaquinta via unanimous decision to capture the vacant lightweight title. “Ragin'” bounced back with a unanimous decision win over Kevin Lee in December. Now, he’s looking for a top-ranked opponent to hopefully propel him into the title conversation.
Gaethje suffered the first back-to-back losses of his career to Eddie Alvarez in 2017 and Dustin Poirier in April.
He got back into the win column with a horrific knockout victory over James Vick in August. Currently, Gaethje is ranked No. 7 as opposed to Iaquinta’s No. 4. Gaethje might have to look elsewhere for an opponent, as Iaquinta is looking to only fight numbers one through three.
