Iaquinta Bests Lee Again In Milwaukee Rematch

IAQUINTA vs LEE 2

A late surge from Al Iaquinta over the last two rounds of his UFC Fight Night main event with Kevin Lee allowed the New Yorker to take his rematch with his fellow lightweight contender via unanimous decision, putting an exciting cap on the promotion’s return to Milwaukee at Fiserv Forum.

Scores were 48-47 twice and 49-46 for the No. 8-ranked Iaquinta, 14-4-1, who decisioned Lee in their first bout in 2014. The No. 4-ranked Lee falls to 17-4. 

Iaquinta forced Lee to show off his chin early, as he landed a spinning back elbow and flush right hand. Lee responded by working his jab, marking up Iaquinta’s face, and he then started mixing in crosses and kicks. Iaquinta kept threatening a takedown, and when Lee would respond, the New Yorker would fire a punch upstairs, a technique that proved effective throughout the round.

Lee got the bout to the mat early in round two and he took Iaquinta’s back. The Michigan native fired off strikes, but he wasn’t able to get his foe’s neck, and with two minutes left, Iaquinta escaped and got back to his feet. Now it was Iaquinta’s turn to use the jab, and he fired it effectively down the stretch. 

Iaquinta’s striking offense and defense was sharp in round three, prompting Lee to even the score with a takedown with under two minutes left. Again, Lee took Iaquinta’s back, and while he wasn’t able to finish, he did keep the position until the horn.

Pushing the pace on the feet, Iaquinta began tagging Lee more and more, even landing a head kick in between the hard right hands to the head. Midway through the round, Iaquinta had the bloodied Lee on the defensive, but a couple kicks to the body from “The Motown Phenom” had him back in business, but not enough to take the round.

Lee shot for a takedown in the opening minute of round five, but Iaquinta scrambled out of trouble and stayed upright. Lee kept locked on to “Raging Al” in a quest to get the fight back to the mat, but midway through the final frame, Iaquinta broke loose. Lee was visibly winded, with the stalking Iaquinta the fresher of the two. A left hook rocked Lee with 90 seconds left, but Lee recovered and landed some solid shots in return. The harder punches were coming from the fists of the Long Islander, though, and the crowd roared as Iaquinta put a cap on a big win.