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What's the story?
UFC Milwaukee stand-out performer, Al Iaquinta, has been fancied by his coach, Ray Longo, to take on Conor McGregor for his next outing in the Octagon. Iaquinta is recently coming off a spectacular rematch victory over Kevin Lee on the UFC's last appearance on FOX when the duo headlined the event at Milwaukee, United States, on December 15th, 2018.
In case you didn't know..
Al Iaquinta is an American mixed martial artist who is currently a representative fighter of the UFC's lightweight division. He has a professional record consisting of fourteen wins, alongside four losses, and a single non-contest bout.
Iaquinta was on a five-fight win streak until his unanimous decision loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 223, on April 7th, 2018. Leading up to the Khabib fight, Iaquinta stepped in as a replacement for both Tony Ferguson and Max Holloway, who went on to pull-out from the fight.
Kevin Lee and Al Iaquinta were scheduled to go head to head at the UFC's last advent with FOX. The pair has had a history of throwing exchanges at each other, once before, during Kevin Lee's debut performance with the UFC, at UFC 169. Al Iaquinta went on to repeat history during their second meeting as well, when the former secured a unanimous decision win, one that seemed very similar to his earlier victory at UFC 169.
The heart of the matter
Al Iaquinta's coach, Ray Longo, recently spoke to Luke Thomas, on The MMA Hour, where he expressed his interest towards Iaquinta facing Conor McGregor as his next competition in the Octagon. He said:
“I’d really like to see him fight Conor next. I don’t think Conor deserves the Khabib rematch at all. It looks like they’re going to give Ferguson Khabib, which is 100 percent fair. That makes fair sense, not everything is fair sense, it’s money sense.
“But I’d like to see Al get a big money fight against a great guy who can bring a lot of eyeballs to pay-per-view. I think that would be great. I think Al deserves it and I think that’s a great matchup. I’d love to see it and I’d love to be a part of it.”
Soon after his win at UFC Milwaukee, Iaquinta said that he would like to face Tony Ferguson next, provided the fondly known 'El Cucuy' isn't booked for a big match-up against Khabib Nurmagomedov.
“That’s a great fight. I got Ferguson up there. Ferguson is unbelievable, so that’s a great challenge for Al, but I think Ferguson does deserve the fight with Khabib. I’m just going based on that."
What's next?
Conor McGregor is currently expecting a hearing from the Nevada State Athletic Commission, for the part he played during the post-fight melee at UFC 229 against Khabib Nurmagomedov. January 29th, 2019 is the expected date for the Irishman's next appearance in front of the commission, which could throw light on the extent of his punishment.
Do you think Al Iaquinta deserves a shot against Conor McGregor on his hopefully soon return to the sport? Leave your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below!
