Ross Pearson, Al Iaquinta snipe back and forth ahead of UFC Sydney co-main event
It all started innocently enough.
Al Iaquinta commented in an interview that he believed he had an "advantage" over Ross Pearson in striking. Pearson, one the most technical kickboxers in the lightweight division, took umbrage, tweeting the MMAjunkie.com article and labeling Iaquinta as merely a "grappler."
The two have gone back and forth a bit on social media and there doesn't seem to be much love for one another heading into their co-main event bout at UFC Fight Night on Fight Pass in Sydney, Australia on Friday night.
"It made sense why he would say something like that," Pearson told FOX Sports. I kind of felt like I knew his gameplan already. I guess he was saying this to get a rise out of me, to get me too excited, to make the [takedown] easy for him. That's not what I'm going to do. He's giving his gameplan away. I know what he's gonna do, he knows what he's gonna do."
Iaquinta doesn't necessarily disagree with Pearson. He believes he'll be able to take the Brit down at will -- and also beat him up on the feet.
"I think I am gonna take him down," Iaquinta said. "I'm gonna be 100 percent better than him standing up and I'm gonna take him down, too. Wherever the fight goes, I'm gonna be dominant."
The gamesmanship adds further fuel to what is a very interesting fight in the lightweight division. Neither Pearson nor Iaquinta are ranked among UFC 155-pound contenders, but a win here could get them that recognition. If the rankings went to 20, both would be on the list.
Pearson (16-7, 1 NC) has had an up-and-down stretch. He and Melvin Guillard fought to a no contest last October when Pearson was unable to continue due to a cut from a Guillard illegal knee. When the two were supposed to have a rematch in March, Pearson had to withdraw due to a knee injury.
Pearson, 30, returned with an impressive performance against Diego Sanchez in June, but the judges didn't see it that way, giving Sanchez a split decision victory. That result has been the first bullet point on a list of reasons why there needs to be judging reform in MMA. After that, Pearson knocked out Gray Maynard in August to get back on track.
On paper, it certainly seems like Pearson will be the better striker. But Iaquinta (9-3-1) has become increasingly confident in his standup. Working with guru Ray Longo will do that for you. The Long Islander and teammate of UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman is coming off a TKO victory over Rodrigo Damm in September. Before that, the 27-year-old Iaquinta lost to Mitch Clarke at UFC 173 by stunning submission after dominating him up until that point.
"For someone to call me a grappler, I don’t know what he was thinking," Iaquinta said of Pearson. "Maybe he didn’t see my fights. He's trying to get in my head."
Oddly enough, Pearson thinks Iaquinta is playing the same game.
"He ain't gonna stand in the pocket and throw leather with me," Pearson said. "He's gonna try to take me down 100 percent. As soon as he feels my power, he ain't gonna stand there. He knows if I touch him once, he's going out."
Iaquinta isn't going to be baited into some kind of war of words, though -- at least not on social media.
"I'm not a big of the trash talk on Twitter," Iaquinta said. "I never go out of my way to talk about anybody and if I do it's not gonna be on Twitter. I wouldn't know what to say if I wanted to talk s*** to somebody on Twitter. If he wants to talk and get in my head and start s***, that's fine, but Twitter, I think, is old. That's a couple of years ago. Big deal, bro. We're gonna fight anyway."
Indeed they will. And Pearson is positive he knows where Iaquinta will try to take said fight. He believes he knows exactly what to expect.
"He gave away his gameplan," Pearson said. "It was kind of funny actually."
