Conor McGregor has made it clear he wants to fight all the top-ranked lightweights and revealed Al Iaquinta is on that list.
McGregor is set to return to the lightweight division at UFC 257 against Dustin Poirier and the Irishman has said it will be the start of a lengthy run at the division. If he goes out and beats Poirier, McGregor will likely fight a top-five opponent next time out. However, he says he would be open to fighting Al Iaquinta.
“I would like to fight Al Iaquinta at some stage, I’d like to fight Al. I don’t know, I’d just like to fight him, I’d like to fight Al,” McGregor said to ESPN. “He hays said a few things and I actually like Al, I think he is a funny guy. Real estate agent and all, that is even funnier in its self. He has little team Longo and those guys, I would like to fight Al.”
Conor McGregor is set to return to the Octagon against Dustin Poirier this Saturday. If he can get past “The Diamond” he will likely fight for the vacant title, so a scrap against Iaquinta doesn’t make too much sense at this point. However, if Iaquinta can string together a few wins, perhaps this fight does happen in a few years.
Conor McGregor is coming off a 40-second knockout win over Donald Cerrone at UFC 246. The fight marked his return to the sport after he was submitted by Khabib Nurmagomedov for the lightweight title at UFC 229. The Irishman scored KO wins over Eddie Alvarez and Jose Aldo to win the lightweight and featherweight titles.
Al Iaquinta, meanwhile, has not fought since UFC 243. There, he lost a decision to Dan Hooker which was his second in a row after losing to Donald Cerrone. Iaquinta does hold notable wins over Kevin Lee, Jorge Masvidal, Diego Sanchez, and Joe Lauzon. He’s also top-15 lightweight.
Would you like to see Conor McGregor fight Al Iaquinta at some point?