Dana White: Al Iaquinta ‘100 Percent Out’ of Potential Bout vs. Justin Gaethje

Recently, Al Iaquinta and Justin Gaethje exchanged words on social media regarding a potential bout between the all-action lightweights.

On his “Call Me Al” podcast, Iaquinta mentioned August or September as a target date with the former World Series of Fighting champion. However, Gaethje countered on Twitter that Iaquinta would not be ready to fight in August.

Now, it appears that any life the bout might have had is no more, and according to UFC President Dana White, responsibility for that falls on Iaquinta.

“That fight isn’t gonna happen. Iaquinta is absolutely 100 percent out of that fight,” White said on the "UFC Unfiltered” podcast.  

“I’m pretty sure we just did a new deal with Al Iaquinta. He just got a good payday against Khabib [Nurmagomedov]. He has a deal. He feels that if he moves up and fights guys that are higher ranked than him, he should be paid a lot more money. He feels that if he fights guys that are lower ranked than him, then he should make a lot less money.”

Iaquinta is coming off a five-round decision defeat to Nurmagomedov for the vacant lightweight belt at UFC 223 in April. The Serra-Longo Fight Team member was pulled from a proposed bout against Paul Felder to face Nurmagomedov after the Dagestani lost both Tony Ferguson and Max Holloway as opponents during fight week. While salaries from the event were not disclosed, it’s likely Iaquinta earned the biggest payday of his MMA career to date.

Gaethje, meanwhile, kicked off his promotional tenure with a wildly entertaining victory over Michael Johnson at “The Ultimate Fighter 25” finale, but has since been finished in back-to-back bouts by Eddie Alvarez and Dustin Poirier. Still, Gaethje has established himself as one of the UFC’s most exciting competitors in victory or defeat.