“Raging” Al Iaquinta will take on “Platinum” Mike Perry but not in the setting you may be expecting. Iaquinta will meet Perry in a grappling contest at Chael Sonnen’s Submission Underground. The match will take place February 23rd at the Roseland Theater in Sonnen’s hometown of Portland Oregon. Sonnen held several of these events from July 2016 to April 2018. This will be the first event since that April. Submission Underground (SUG) is a submission only format with the rules being similar to those familiar with Eddie Bravo’s “Eddie Bravo Invitational. The organization has raised a significant amount of interest with grappling and MMA fans and competitors. SUG 11 will be headlined by a Tag Team match between Nick Rodriguez and Craig Jones taking on Vinny Magalhaes and Kyle Boehm.
“It’s something I’ve always been interested in doing” Iaquinta said. “It’s going to be fan friendly, this one should be a lot of fun.” When the Serra Longo lightweight saw Mike Perry was without an opponent for the event he reached out to Sonnen. The match was quickly put together setting up an exciting contest between the two fan favorites.
Perry who trains with American Top Team fights in the UFC at Welterweight (170 lbs). With no major weight limitations Perry will enter at his “walking around” weight making him the bigger of the two. “He’s going to be bigger than me, he’s a strong guy” Iaquinta said. “He hasn’t been grappling as long as I have which is where I’ll have an advantage.” Iaquinta comes from a strong wrestling background which has always been an advantage for the Lightweight.
Without a fight booked as of yet for 2020 this will be a nice tune up for Raging Al as he prepares for his next bout in the Octagon. “I’ve been in the gym every day working hard. This gives me a destination, something to focus on leading up to the next fight.”
The fight will stream live on UFC Fight Pass. Tickets for the event can be purchased at https://cascadetickets.com/events/submission-underground-11/
-Matt Pellicane
Iaquinta Nation 