A day after Dana White shot down talks of Justin Gaethje and Al Iaquinta facing off, it looks like we will get to see this highly requested matchup after all.
Brett Okamoto of ESPN reported Wednesday evening that Gaethje and Iaquinta has been agreed to and will take place in Lincoln, Nebraska on August 25th:
Justin Gaethje vs. Al Iaquinta will headline the UFC Fight Night event scheduled on Aug. 25 in Lincoln, Nebraska. UFC had this one targeted for weeks, and it’s been agreed to I’m told.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) June 7, 2018
Perhaps White’s public exposure of what prevented the fight from happening and public pressure helped lead to the sudden about face that is getting fans what they want in what will be a very unpredictable and volatile lightweight showdown.
Iaquinta and Gaethje are both looking to rebound from a loss suffered last month, with Gaethje falling to Dustin Poirier in a classic battle in Arizona at UFC on Fox 29, while Iaquinta was the most recent to fall pretty to the undefeated lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. Another factor that could have led to the fight being made was Gaethje pushing the issue on Twitter earlier this month:
Raging @ALIAQUINTA must have been trying to sound tough on his new podcast. Word on the street is he’s not ready for August #ufc #mma @ufc pic.twitter.com/qagMjw4IiD
— Justin Gaethje ?? (@Justin_Gaethje) May 28, 2018
After a back-and-forth exchange between the two fighters, it appears that Iaquinta will be ready in August, and the fans are more than ready.
Who do you think will get the win? Al Iaquinta or Justin Gaethje?
