This week’s show features Tom, Tony and Rich chatting about the circus atmosphere surrounding UFC 223, starting with Conor McGregor’s hand cart throwing incident. We also recap the past week’s boxing and MMA events, and we even briefly discuss Ronda Rousey’s Wrestlemania performance and the news that Brock Lesnar recently signed an extension to stay with the WWE. Listen to the broadcast below:
Tūtohu Archives: al iaquinta
FNU aro Sports Whakaatu: “Raging” Al Goes Off on Dana White, Klitschko vs. Joshua Arokite & Event Recaps
It’s an early installment of the FNU Combat Sports Show this week since Co-host “Tornado” Tony Penecale will be busy in his role as the Phillies Superphan tomorrow night at the NFL Draft. We discuss “Raging” Al Iaquinta’s tirade against the UFC and Dana White, recap Bellator 178 and UFC Fight Night 108, and preview the big heavyweight boxing match between Wladimir Klitschko and Anthony Joshua on Saturday. We also discuss the latest season of The Ultimate Fighter and last week’s boxing events.
Raging Al Iaquinta Interview By Ariel Helwani is Must See TV
By: Rich Bergeron
UFC Lightweight Contender “Raging” Al Iaquinta (13-3) is certainly solidifying his nickname these days. From his dismantling of UFC Legend Diego Sanchez last Saturday night to his public disagreements with the most popular MMA league on the planet, Iaquinta is putting it all on the line lately.
Despite the fact that Iaquinta is on a five-fight win streak in the Octagon and has two more fights left on his UFC contract, he told Ariel Helwani in the above interview that it is “probable” he will not be fighting again in the near future.
Iaquinta’s self-imposed hiatus from the UFC has nothing to do with a lack of love for the sport, ahakoa. He’s just fed up with the politics and sick of being singled out for speaking his mind about fighter pay and other issues. He covers everything from weight cutting to the Reebok deal and unionization of fighters in the interview with Helwani. He also insists he would enjoy being fully involved in efforts to fix all these issues.
Perhaps the most outrageous and entertaining aspect of the interview is how Al rips UFC President Dana White. Using just as many expletives as “Te Papa” himself likes to employ when he’s angry, Iaquinta gets most animated about White calling the plane ride home the best part of UFC Brooklyn. Iaquinta goes on to point out that White never had an injury in the sport of MMA and should keep his mouth shut about certain aspects of fighting that he has no clue about.
That part of Iaquinta’s argument sounds almost identical to the sentiment we shared here on Fight News Unlimited over a year ago with our “Open FU” to White. Back then we were criticizing the UFC President for his treatment of Holly Holm and her management team.
Listening to the Helwani interview is all the more entertaining and interesting if you can imagine a fighters’ association with Iaquinta as the president. It would be the best development possible to pay White back for all his own brash, in your face, tell-it-like-it-is ranting over the years. It would be fighting fire with fire, and listening to both of these characters argue with each other would be astronomically better than any of the debates that made up the chaotic 2016 Presidential Election in the United States.
It is highly unlikely that Iaquinta would be able to take on such a prominent role in such an association before his UFC contract officially runs out, ahakoa. Tonu, it is one of the most opportune times in the history of the sport of MMA for fighters to learn how to band together and exercise their solidarity to generate serious change. From the Reebok deal’s flaws to the new UFC owners taking a more insensitive corporate approach to management to the McGregor vs. Mayweather fight purse talks, there are a lot of motivating factors in place right now to force a major development on the union/association front.
Na “Uncle Dana” can “go F$%k himself” (as Al Iaquinta might say) if he thinks he can stop that train from rumbling down the tracks. More fighters need to learn from Iaquinta and follow in his f-bombing footsteps if anything is really going to get better in the near future. Whether it involves foul language or not, ahakoa, the argument for change needs to generate more commentary from the fighters who are directly experiencing the difficulties of getting by on a typical MMA fighter’s salary. The days of keeping your mouth shut and staying in line to make sure you get the best fights and the best opportunities for extra income are coming to an end. It’s truly time for more shortchanged fighters to knock the silver spoon out of Dana White’s mouth and get to work on improving the status quo by any means necessary.
FNU aro Sports Whakaatu: Weekly Wrap Up
Tony Penecale, Tom Padgett and Rich Bergeron break down the week that was in combat sports and look forward to upcoming events in this September 22 pāhotanga. We discuss Liam Smith’s brutal knockout loss to Canelo Alvarez, preview Kovalev vs. Ward, and outline the upcoming weekend’s boxing schedule. We also discuss Don King’s “N-word” slip and a couple examples of fighters being upset with the rigors of fighting professionally. Tuatahi, we examine why Joe Warren had no sponsors going into his bout last Friday that served as the co-main event of Bellator 161. Then we delve into the Al Iaquinta contract dispute with the UFC that took him off UFC 205 recently. We also look back on UFC Fight Night 94 and preview UFC Fight Night 95.
UFC 183: Who will show up?
Credit Photo: UFC
The Ultimate Fighting Championship has hit it out of the park so far in 2015, with its first two major cards of the year living up to the hype of their main events. Light heavyweight champion Jon Jones dominated Daniel Cormier to prove he is the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world at UFC 182, and at the UFC’s live card in Boston, Mass., i roto i te Hānuere, Conor McGregor secured a featherweight title shot against José Aldo and wasted no time getting in his next opponent’s face.
Which brings us to UFC 183 te po nei, and a main event that is considered a dream matchup by many. Anderson Silva returns to the Octagon after suffering a gruesome leg injury in his last fight against UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman in 2013. Nick Diaz also makes his return to the UFC after losing his last fight against former welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre in 2013.
Tonight’s card isn’t without its other storylines though. A pair of significant undercard fights are taking place under some controversy, as flyweight John Lineker came in overweight for his fight against Ian McCall, which is expected to determine the next no. 1 contender to the flyweight title. I roto i te hui tahi-matua, Kelvin Gastelum came in 9 pounds overweight for his fight against Tyron Woodley, which means 30 percent of Gastelum’s fight purse actually goes to Woodley. Talk about insult to injury.
O te akoranga, there is always the wild card with Diaz too. He plays by his own rules, having no-showed the open workouts earlier this week. Will he actually show up to the cage for tonight’s main event? It remains to be seen, though most everyone thinks he will.
Na, having said all that, who do I think wins tonight?
Miesha “Cupcake” Tate (15-5) vs. Sara McMann (8-1) (Women’s bantamweight – 135 lbs.)
This is actually the main event of the preliminary card on Fox Sports 1. Tate requested to compete on this portion of the card instead of the pay-per-view card, taking a page from Urijah Faber’s playbook. Tate is also eager for a third fight with Ronda Rousey for the women’s bantamweight title. Both of these women suffered Rousey’s wrath, particularly McMann, who was demolished by Rousey in about a minute last year.
McMann is a pure wrestler with very little else to her repertoire, whereas Tate built on her established wrestling skills to become an effective striker. I think she will stuff McMann’s attempts to take this fight to the mat and use her vastly superior striking skills to keep McMann befuddled en route to a dominant victory.
Winner: Tate by unanimous decision
Jordan “Young Gun” Mein (29-9) vs. Thiago “Pitbull” Alves (25-9) (Welterweight – 170 lbs.)
Alves has alternated wins and losses in his last six fights, while Mein rides a two-fight win streak. Alves is always dangerous with his Muay Thai and striking, while Mein landed a first-round TKO victory in his last fight. This should be an exciting stand-up battle with neither guy willing to give an inch. I think Alves is the more dangerous fighter here, and will land one good shot to knock Mein silly.
Winner: Alves by second round TKO
Thales Leites (24-4) vs. Tim “The Barbarian” Boetsch (18-7) (Middleweight – 185 lbs.)
Leites comes into this fight on a roll, having won his last seven fights, with the last two coming by way of TKO. Boetsch has alternated wins and losses in his last four fights, including a TKO victory in his last fight against Brad Tavares.
Boetsch is a slow, plodding bruiser best known for derailing the Hector Lombard hype train when he first made his UFC debut. Leites is a crafty, dangerous fighter who can finish you with his hands or by submission. I think Leites will avoid Boetsch’s power and wait for Boetsch to make a mistake, where Leits will capitalize.
Winner: Leites by third round submission
Joe Lauzon (24-10) vs. Al “Raging” Iaquinta (10-3-1) (Lightweight – 155 lbs.)
You know what you’re getting with a Joe Lauzon fight. You’re going to see an exciting, action packed bout that will most likely end with him locking in a slick submission or, in the case of his fight against Jim Miller, suffering a gnarly cut that will guarantee a blood battle.
Iaquinta has been on a roll since his time on The Ultimate Fighter Live, having only lost once in his last six fights. A win against Lauzon would be a real feather in his cap and might propel him into title contendership discussion. But Lauzon is one of the best submission specialists in the UFC, and I think the crafty veteran has another submission up his sleeve.
Winner: Lauzon by second round submission
Tyron “The Chosen One” Woodley (14-3) vs. Kelvin Gastelum (11-0) (Welterweight – 170 lbs.)
As mentioned above, Gastelum weighed in 9 pounds over for this fight and will forfeit 30 percent of his purse directly to Woodley. It was reported that Gastelum spent time in the hospital leading up to this fight, which contributed to him coming in overweight.
Woodley will be angry in this fight, and rightly so. It’s not fair that his opponent will have a weight advantage due to his own failure to do what he was supposed to do. Give Woodley credit for wanting to keep fighting when it would have been perfectly understandable to postpone it.
Woodley will channel his rage into a blitzkrieg of offense at Gastelum, and the lethargic and probably still-injured Gastelum will have no response.
Winner: Woodley by second round TKO
Anderson "Te Pūngāwerewere" Silva (33-6) vs. Nick Diaz (27-9-1) (Middleweight – 185 lbs.)
This is one of the several main events that have fight fans buzzing in 2015. Many didn’t think Silva would ever walk again after his leg injury against Weidman, let alone come back to the UFC to fight. The matchup style of Diaz wanting to push the pace, get in his opponent’s face and sucker him into trading blows against Silva’s unrivaled elusiveness will be interesting to watch.
Diaz said he wouldn’t trash talk Silva during this fight out of respect. But if Silva keeps bobbing and weaving and dodging Diaz’s punches, we’ll see how long Diaz commits to that. I think we’ll see vintage Silva in this fight, making Diaz look silly in some spots while landing well-timed strikes that will confuse and frustrate Diaz, which will allow Silva to land even more.
Diaz is too tough to finish, but this fight will show that Silva still has it and is the vastly superior fighter.
Winner: Silva by unanimous decision
Chris Huntemann writes about mixed martial arts in the state of Maryland. He also contributes his thoughts to our site on the UFC, Bellator, and World Series of Fighting. Check out his blog, or follow him on Twitter: @mmamaryland.