On Saturday night, in the main event of UFC Ottawa, New York’s Al Iaquinta attempted to assert himself as one of the top contenders in the crowded UFC lightweight division by taking out the veteran Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone.

While Iaquinta certainly had his moments in this main event battle, he ultimately came up short, weathering a pair of knockdowns to lose a unanimous decision to his foe.

Speaking on Instagram early on Sunday morning, Al Iaquinta issued a quick statement on this setback in the Canadian capital. The New Yorker is choosing to bask in the glory of his teammate Merab Dvalishvili’s victory over Brad Katona rather than stew in the misery of his own loss.

Here’s what he had to say:

“So happy for @merab.dvalishvili and his dominant performance last night. When I have great people like this by my side, Win or Lose, I’ve already Won.” – Al Iaquinta on Instagram.

With this loss to Cowboy, Al Iaquinta returns to the loss column after an impressive decision defeat of Kevin Lee in December. In his next most recent fight, he battled reigning UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov for the vacant title — a fight he accepted on just 24 hours notice. Iaquinta lost this short notice title fight by decision.

The 32 year old will now return to the drawing board with a 14–5–1 overall record.

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 5/5/2019.