When you think Justin Gaethje, what comes to mind?
You might have thought of terms like “warrior,” “battles,” and “Fight of the Night.” And why wouldn’t you? All three of Gaethje’s UFC fights have made him known for such things. He has emerged as a name fans can rely on for slugfests and bloodbaths and has thus become one of the biggest fan favorites on the UFC roster.
Al Iaquinta is not about that life.
If you are expecting another war when Justin Gaethje squares off with Al Iaquinta in August, Iaquinta has immediately come forward to pump the breaks on what is a fair expectation of how the fight might look:
Definitely not fight of the year
— Al Iaquinta? (@ALIAQUINTA) June 14, 2018
Definitely not a war
— Al Iaquinta? (@ALIAQUINTA) June 14, 2018
Of course in order to win Fight of the Night or be in a war, you would have to take a high degree of damage, something Iaquinta is quite understandably opposed to. Winning five of his last six fights, with the sole loss coming to the undefeated Khabib Nurmagomedov, and with more than half of his 13 victories coming by way of KO/TKO, Iaquinta has grown accustomed to being the man to dole out the damage, and he believe he is too good to be dragged down into the trenches with War Gaethje:
Im way better than that
— Al Iaquinta? (@ALIAQUINTA) June 14, 2018
Of course no one decides, “I’m going to get punched in the face a lot to put on a show,” so it’s fair to say that Michael Johnson, Eddie Alvarez, and Dustin Poirier wanted to dominate the fight and go back home with minimal damage as well. But when the cage closes with Justin Gaethje standing on the other end, the best-laid plans seem to go by the wayside, and chaos erupts at the sound of the word, “Fight!”
At UFC Fight Night 135 in Lincoln, Nebraska, we’ll see if Iaquinta can control the chaos, as he asserts he will.
Do you think Al Iaquinta will be the first to defeat Gaethje soundly enough to avoid a “Fight of the Night?”
