Al Iaquinta to fight Joe Lauzon at UFC 183 in Las Vegas
UFC fighter Al Iaquinta of Wantagh trains at Ray Longo MMA in Garden City on Jan. 25, 2014. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams, Jr.
In the immediacy of his second and most recent knockout victory, Al Iaquinta said he's ready to humble the UFC's lightweight division.
He now has his next opportunity to do so, and it comes against the man with the most fight bonuses in UFC history.
Iaquinta, from Wantagh, will fight Joe Lauzon at UFC 183 in Las Vegas on Jan. 31, 2015. Both fighters have verbally agreed to the bout. Anderson Silva and Nick Diaz headline the card.
Iaquinta (10-3-1, 5-2 UFC) is coming off a second-round stoppage of Ross Pearson in Australia earlier this month.
Lauzon (24-10) last fought in September when he stopped Michael Chiesa by TKO via doctor's stoppage at UFC Fight Night at Foxwoods in Connecticut. Lauzon won his 13th post-fight bonus that night. That same night, Iaquinta earned his first stoppage victory with a third-round TKO of Rodrigo Damm.
Mark La Monica is a deputy sports editor at Newsday. He also covers mixed martial arts.
