Al Iaquinta is back. And he hasn’t changed a bit.
Over two years since getting his hand raised in a split decision over Jorge Masvidal in Fairfax, which prompted a chorus of boos from the crowd and ultimately resulted in Iaquinta shouting “Fuck you!” into the audience, Iaquinta stepped back on to the UFC mat this weekend.
A contract dispute delayed his return to the Octagon but when his comeback arrived, it was worth the wait as he knocked out the notoriously resilient Diego Sanchez in Nashville on Saturday night.
A right straight dropped Sanchez and the referee didn’t hesitate to jump in to call a halt to proceedings before 100 seconds had elapsed in the opening round.
2 Years!! @ALIAQUINTA comes back RAGING at #UFCNashville!! pic.twitter.com/rbkjk0bVP8
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) April 23, 2017
But while his comeback was stunning, Iaquinta maintains that he is still dissatisfied with his UFC contract and will not rush into another fight because he is happy with the job he picked up in his break from fighting.
“I really enjoy selling real estate,” Iaquinta said after Saturday’s victory. “I got my fix for fighting for now, so I’m good for now.
“I’ve just thought about tonight. I just wanted to get in there and have fun, and that’s exactly what I did. (UFC on Fox 25 in Uniondale, New York) would be awesome, something I’d really love to do, but I’m not going to do for the contract I have now. Probably not. Definitely not for a top opponent.
“These guys are dangerous. I’m not going in there to get paid what I’m getting paid to get hurt. If I’m out for two years, where am I going to make any money?”
The prompt dispatching of one of the most difficult lightweights to put away firmly places Iaquinta back on the radar of top 155lbers but as impressive as the finish was, ‘Raging’ did not benefit from one of the $50,000 performance bonuses as Mike Perry, Brandon Moreno and headliners Cub Swanson and Artem Lobov all found themselves a touch richer after an entertaining evening in Tennessee.
#UFCNashville Bonuses:@CubSwanson | @RusHammerMMA | @PlatinumPerry | @TheAssassinBaby
50k 💰 pic.twitter.com/QLlA9ZneLR
— UFC (@ufc) April 23, 2017
And his reaction to being left off the bonus list inspired a less eloquent but far more memorable reaction than his response to his contract situation.
Early on Sunday morning, the 29-year-old posted the below tweets.
We somehow don’t anticipate a retweet from Dana White.
