Iaquinta out and Vick in vs. Gaethje in Nebraska
Ali Abdelaziz: “UFC will find someone else to fight Justin, and it will be an exciting fight. It doesn’t matter who fights Justin, it could be a chair in there, it will be exciting.”
Al Iaquinta told Ariel Helwani for ESPN that he is not fighting Gaethje in a lightweight headliner at a UFC Fight Night event on August 25, 2018, in Lincoln, Nebraska. Iaquinta did not offer a reason for the withdrawal.
Gaethje’s manager Ali Abdelaziz can always be relied upon for a compelling word bite, and did not disappoint.
“I can’t question Al’s heart,” said Abdelaziz. “But at the end of the day, when you fight Justin, people have to think about it. I got nothing against Al, but it’s a tall order to fight Justin. When you go in there, you leave a piece of yourself in the cage. Some people don’t want to do that. If I’m a fighter I don’t want to fight that guy. I don’t know if this is a negotiation tactic from Al, but he is out.
“For the record, he called out Justin, Justin took the fight and then he pulled out. It’s his business. UFC will find someone else to fight Justin, and it will be an exciting fight. It doesn’t matter who fights Justin, it could be a chair in there, it will be exciting.”
It wouldn’t be MMA if there was not some bitterness on Twitter.
Waiting for @ALIAQUINTA to say 💯 that he is definitely fighting that night! Until then I’ll wait to get tickets! #UFCBIGGESTFANON4WHEELS♿️
— #UFCBIGGESTFANON4WHEELS♿️🚷 (@JasonRyanJones) June 28, 2018
You know he will bitch out. Buy the tickets, I am fighting somebody!
— Justin Gaethje 🇺🇸 (@Justin_Gaethje) June 28, 2018
https://twitter.com/ALIAQUINTA/status/1012152453788291073
Abdelaziz was right on all counts. Gaethje vs. a chair would be neat, and Mike Bohn for MMAjunkie reports that the UFC found a replacement quickly. Iaquinta was ranked #10 in the division, and replacement James Vick is #11. Vick, on a four-fight win streak, had been scheduled to fight Paul Felder at UFC Fight Night 133 on July 14. This is Felder’s second consecutive loss of a fight. He had previously been scheduled to fight Iaquinta, who was pulled to fight for the then-vacant lightweight belt.
UFC Fight Night 135:
Justin Gaethje vs. James Vick
Deiveson Figueiredo vs. John Moraga
Angela Hill vs. Alexa Grasso
Antonio Braga Neto vs. Andrew Sanchez
Eryk Anders vs. Tim Williams
Drew Dober vs. Jon Tuck
Luke Sanders vs. Rani Yahya
