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Al Iaquinta yells expletives at UFC fans after controversial win

Al Iaquinta yells expletives at UFC fans after controversial win

Some fighters don’t seem to mind when they receive a controversial win and the disapproving crowd in attendance showers them with boos.

UFC lightweight and Long Island native Al Iaquinta definitely minds.

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After a back-and-forth three-round slugfest with veteran fighter Jorge Masvidal, Iaquinta came away victorious with what fans apparently felt was a controversial split-decision. The scorecards read 30-27 for Masvidal and 29-28 (x2) for Iaquinta, and when “Raging Al” took to the microphone in his post-fight speech, he was greeted by a chorus of boos from the Fairfax, Virginia faithful inside the Patriot Center.

And that’s when things got interesting.

“Are you guys booing me?” shouted Iaquinta. “You better not boo me!” Iaquinta followed that up with two expletives directed towards the crowd.

WARNING: Clip below contains explicit language:

Was Iaquinta’s post-fight comments in good taste? Obviously not. But it sounds like an overzealous fan is what sparked his anger.

“I got extremely frustrated when the crowd was booing me,” Iaquinta said. “I do this for them. I looked in the crowd and a guy was giving me the middle finger. It really got to me because I do this for the fans.”

Think of this from Iaquinta’s perspective. He was bloodied, swollen and generally beaten up after his fight with Masvidal. It was unquestionably a close split-decision victory for the Serra-Longo upstart, but given the energy expended and the entertaining nature of the fight, it is completely understandable that Iaquinta would take exception to being disrespected in such a manner.

After all, Al Iaquinta isn’t a judge. He’s a fighter.