Iaquinta Nation

Photo by UFC

Al Iaquinta sent a message to everyone in the TUF house, and everyone watching the show Friday night. He is not to be taken lightly, and showed that he’s one of the toughest, hardest working fighters on the show. The tough Andy Ogle was no match for the quickness and impressive striking of Iaquinta, who picked Ogle a part before knocking him out at the end of the first round. That’s where it all ended let’s take a minute to go back where Friday’s episode began.

The first fight of the night was the quarter final fight between Vinc Pichel and Chris Saunders. After briefly hearing from both fighters, and seeing them training prior to the fight, the show quickly gets in to the first fight of the night.

Both Pichel and Saunders came out aggressive in the first round. After a quick exchange Pichel looks to take Saunders down. Saunders is able to defend and even winds up on top after a brief scramble. Pichel is able to work back to his feet where the two briefly exchange shots again. Pichel is able to take Saunders down. This time Saunders is able to get back on his feet, and the round ends with the two standing.

Both guys looking tired in the second round, Pichel comes out looking for a takedown. Saunders is able to defend. Pichel eventually works a takedown but Saunders is quick to get back on his feet. Saunders looks for a takedown of his own, the two wrestle for position with nothing happening. Once both fighters are back on their feet Pichel lands a nice combination of punches. Saunders takes some of Pichel’s best shots and is able to hang tough. He looks for another takedown but isn’t able to execute. The fight ends with another brief flurry of punches between the two. The fight goes to the judges score card and Pichel wins by majority decision.

From there we get right into Iaquinta vs. Ogle. During the beginning of the week Faber lets both teammates know that they’ll randomly decide which trainers will corner who the day of the fight. Faber won’t be in either fighters corner on fight night. This is the fairest way to go about things. Urijah Faber feel’s like Ogle is really starting to surprise people, and he’s stepped up his game mentally. Faber lent his opinion on his number one pick Iaquinta as well. “I’m not sure about Al” Faber said “ You don’t know if he wants to shake your hand, punch you in the face, or buy you a meal. He’s a stone faced killer.”  Al went on to talk about the importance of his work ethic. “I think I’m the hardest working person here. I’m the first one on the mat, and the last one off it” Iaquinta discussed. “I think that’s what makes the difference between me and the other guys. I’m going to leave here with a UFC contract.”

The leads us right into the fight between Iaquinta and Ogle. The two stand and briefly exchange back and fourth. Ogle sticks to his game plan of sticking and moving. He continues to move, while Al stalks him. Ogle continues to try to be aggressive. Al answers back with some nice kicks. Ogle able to land a few shots but Al answers back with some big punches of his own. Ogle starts to look stunned from the heavy punches of Iaquinta. Ogle continues to move, Al looks very calm. Al drops Ogle and looks to finish. They tie up and Al looks for a choke. Iaquinta temporarily lets Ogle back up and delivers a devastating elbow that knocks Ogle out. Al lands a hammer first but the fight is immediately stopped. Iaquinta shows frustration once the fight is over. People who know him are immediately worried he hurt his hand again, but it appears he’s just upset over knocking out his friend and teammate. “It was tough fighting a teammate.” Al said after the fight. “I’m ready for the semi finals, let’s do it.” Dana White offered his thoughts on Iaquinta after the fight as well. “ He looked sharp, he picked him a part. He sent a statement tonight, he looked phenomenal.”

“I’m going to leave here with a UFC contract.” -Al Iaquinta

That set’s it all up for this Friday. It will be James Vick against Mike Chiesa, and Al Iaquinta taking on Vinc Pichel in the Semi Finals. Check back here all week for constant updates, video’s, interviews, and much more.

-Matt Pellicane