What would be the best fight for Al Iaquinta to come back from Cowboy Cerrone loss?

[GSP Rush]

So this is a bit of a confusing one because Al has dropped to 6th in LW rankings, there's all this talk about Justin Gaethje wanting to fight him with Al and Gaethje going back and forth a little lately however Gaethje has said he wants a higher ranked opponent so this might not be happening just yet.

Al is a great fighter who no doubt deserves to be among the top of the LW division, he's tough as nails however he did get pretty beat up in the Cowboy fight simply because he couldn't get past Cowboys reach.

Conor is a pointless conversation because Conor does what Conor wants and I doubt he's going to take the fight with Al Iaquinta. Dustin is fighting Khabib with Tony no doubt being the next in line to fight the winner from that fight leaving possibly Dustin and Gaethje to have another fight (if Dustin loses of course) and the Gaethje will build towards a shot against Tony or Khabib (depending on how all this goes with the Dustin/Khabib fight you guys get the gist).

So where does Al go and what would be the best fight for him? There's no point going back to a Cerrone rematch just yet so it's probably going to be a lower ranked opponent Al will have to take (again) to get a good win under his belt and climb back up again in the rankings a little while the top sort out their fights in the meantime.

Barboza maybe would be a good one for Al, Pettis maybe although he's currently concentrating on Welterweight as is Kevin Lee (though we don't want to see an Al vs Lee 3 anyway) so what do you guys think?

I'd be interested to get your take on this as I've kinda been wondering about this myself while Al fixes up (which he's pretty much done now and wants to be back in the octagon soon).

 

[Franklin U.]

Still yearning for that felder-iaquinta fight.
When does Paul fight Edson ?
At this point, "da bronx" should be pushing for fight with Al. A win shoots him considerably up.

 

[GSP Rush]

Still yearning for that felder-iaquinta fight.
When does Paul fight Edson ?
At this point, "da bronx" should be pushing for fight with Al. A win shoots him considerably up.

Oh yeah I forgot about that with Felder, same here, I would love to see that!

Barboza and Felder is scheduled for Sept 7th so they're probably tied up there too, pretty sure Al said he wants to get back into the octagon around that time, before the end of the year anyway for sure so it's kinda like he's stuck in limbo a little now at the moment (just like he was recently before he took the Cowboy fight).

Charles came to mind for me but I dunno, it's one of those ain't it where Al's having to take the lower ranked fight again.

 

[TITS]

BJ Penn

 

[Franklin U.]

Oh yeah I forgot about that with Felder, same here, I would love to see that!

Barboza and Felder is scheduled for Sept 7th so they're probably tied up there too, pretty sure Al said he wants to get back into the octagon around that time, before the end of the year anyway for sure so it's kinda like he's stuck in limbo a little now at the moment (just like he was recently before he took the Cowboy fight).

Charles came to mind for me but I dunno, it's one of those ain't it where Al's having to take the lower ranked fight again.

Oliveria is on streak and has filled his frame out - looks like a killer now. I think a "w" looks great for either moving forward- regardless of rank.

 

[GSP Rush]

Oliveria is on streak and has filled his frame out - looks like a killer now. I think a "w" looks great for either moving forward- regardless of rank.

Yeah, the LW division is just so tied up all the time ain't it, it's good cause it shows how stacked the division is and the talent we have there but it is really tied up most of the time.

Then we have Conor just floating around at like 3rd in the rankings or whatever not taking fights or having whatever fight he wants to at the time so it doesn't help.

Be interesting to see what fight Al takes next for sure.

 

[NoSmilez]

I originally thought Al took that leaning front leg heavy stance to prevent the takedown against Lee and Khabib. He used the same stance against cowboy and paid for it. You can't really move your head quick enough in that stance.

 

[Summoning]

Conor Mcgregor

 

[BRaVo cHoKe]

The only answer is Gaethje.

 

[rjmbrd]

The only answer is Gaethje.

I like this fight.

Makes sense for both guys.

 

[GSP Rush]

Conor Mcgregor

I think most fighters have given up on Conor now, if you see most of their interviews when they're asked about Conor they kind of brush it off, I don't think a lot of them are really wanting it any more as much and just taking it if it comes around kinda thing.

The only answer is Gaethje.

Yeah, it's the one fight I don't want but do if that makes sense haha Although Gaethje has said he wants a higher ranked opponent first though that fight will happen at some point.

Possibly might even get booked due to the rest of the division being tied up and Justin will just have to take the lower ranked fight, the same way Al had to with Cowboy.

Al was offered Dustin but Dustin was like "No, I want the shot now", Conor was messing about, Tony was out at the time so all these fights were offered to him which he was willing to take but they just never happened for whatever reason.

Maybe Gaethje will have to take this fight while the rest of the division sort their fights out.

 

[humdizzle]

lol at barboza. the guy can't wrestle his way out of a wet paper bag. even fighter kevin lee grinded him out.

kind of a curveball but i'd like to see him fight Gregor Gillespie (13-0, 5-0 UFC) I want to see how that guy does against top competition.

 

[usadaguy]

Obviously Gaetje by rankings, others are currently busy like Barboza

 

[Paulsp]

Hoping gaethje vs al headlines Vancouver

Gaethje recently said the only person he’ll fight that’s below him in the rankings is al and al retweeted this the other day

 

[BRaVo cHoKe]

Yeah, it's the one fight I don't want but do if that makes sense haha Although Gaethje has said he wants a higher ranked opponent first though that fight will happen at some point.

Gaethje and Al have been doing a back-and-forth for some time now to the point were it's frankly annoying and they should just fight so we don't have to hear either keep talking about how they deserve a better opponent. The way everything has worked out there are NO other opponents they can choose from, assuming Tony will wait for his shot this time.

Curious as to why you don't want a Gaethje/Iaquinta fight?

 

[legkicktko]

lol at barboza. the guy can't wrestle his way out of a wet paper bag. even fighter kevin lee grinded him out.

kind of a curveball but i'd like to see him fight Gregor Gillespie (13-0, 5-0 UFC) I want to see how that guy does against top competition.

Yes he's top 5 all time in TDD at LW with 21 UFC fights...

What was this post supposed to mean anyways? That Iaquinta is going to grapplefuck Edson?

 

[GSP Rush]

Hoping gaethje vs al headlines Vancouver

Gaethje recently said the only person he’ll fight that’s below him in the rankings is al and al retweeted this the other day

I know, Gaethje was saying it with The Schmo too recently but he has said he wants a higher ranked opponent first though they're all tied up so he might have to take this.

Gaethje and Al have been doing a back-and-forth for some time now to the point were it's frankly annoying and they should just fight so we don't have to hear either keep talking about how they deserve a better opponent. The way everything has worked out there are NO other opponents they can choose from, assuming Tony will wait for his shot this time.

Curious as to why you don't want a Gaethje/Iaquinta fight?

I do want a Gaethje and Iaquinta fight simply because it'll be an awesome fight but I love those guys too so it's like I don't want to have to root against any of them haha

See this thread here: https://forums.sherdog.com/threads/...hters-in-a-fight-who-do-you-root-for.3986879/

 

[blaseblah]

Felder v. Barboza winner

 

[SovereignPhantom]

lol at barboza. the guy can't wrestle his way out of a wet paper bag. even fighter kevin lee grinded him out.

kind of a curveball but i'd like to see him fight Gregor Gillespie (13-0, 5-0 UFC) I want to see how that guy does against top competition.

If Al doesn't end up fighting Gaethje, they should set this up for sure.

 

[GSP Rush]

Felder v. Barboza winner

Only problem with that is Al's wanting to get back into the octagon by the end of this year, Felder vs Barboza is Sept 7th and they won't be getting back into the octagon too quick after that fight so it clashes really leaving Al without a fight.