Al Iaquinta reportedly mulling retirement, noted likelihood that he fights anytime soon is “slim to none”

UFC lightweight Al Iaquinta is apparently debating if he should retire or not. Regardless of retirement, it’s not likely he fights anytime soon.

‘Ragin Al’ has been out of the cage since UFC 268 in November 2021. That outing was a first-round knockout loss to Bobby Green. The stoppage was the first knockout loss of his career to date.

Prior to his loss to Green, Iaquinta wasn’t particularly active. He took over a two-year layoff from his previous outing, a loss to Dan Hooker which happened in October 2019. The 35-year-old’s last victory came over Iaquinta in Kevin Lee in December 2018.

Following the loss to Green last year, he publicly debated retirement. The fan-favorite lightweight has notably been in the real estate business since 2016. Now, on The MMA Hour, Al Iaquinta gave some insight into his MMA future.

During the interview, Al Iaquinta was asked if he had plans to fight a rumored long island card in July. To which he responded in the negative. Upon being asked if he was officially retired, ‘Ragin Al’ then noted that he doesn’t currently know.

However, what he does know, is that he’s proud of his friend and training partner Aljamain Sterling. Instead of discussing his future, Iaquinta decided to highlight ‘Funk Master’ being honored in his hometown last week. The lightweight was notably in the corner of Sterling for his victory over Petr Yan last month.

Image via @ufc on Instagram

“Slim to none [that I will fight on the July card]. I don’t know, man, I don’t know [if I’m retired]. Let’s just keep doing what we’re [currently] doing… [Aljamain Sterling], after 13 months of what that guy went through when the other guy knees him in the head and all of these fans come after him — and I love him because he just keeps poking at them a little bit and keeps them going — and the way he went out there, I mean everyone thought he was [going to get] killed that fight.” (h/t MMAFighting)

“Everyone said he was getting killed this time, he’s an actor, this and that. That first fight was not a true representation of Aljo, and he’s still getting so much better. It’s scary. He was out 13 months, that’s a long layoff, and did you see how quickly he took Petr Yan’s back?”

What do you think of Al Iaquinta’s comments? Do you want to see ‘Ragin Al’ return?