Al Iaquinta wonders if UFC brass wants Paul Felder to beat him at UFC 223

Al Iaquinta thinks that Dana White wants Paul Felder to win their upcoming lightweight clash at UFC 223.

In an interview with Ariel Helwani on the latest episode of The MMA Hour, “Ragin’ Al” slammed Felder for appearing to seek the approval of the UFC president following a win.

“I think so, he’s their announcer,” Iaquinta replied when asked if he thought the UFC wanted Felder to win their fight. “I’ve watched one of his fights. He won the fight and then after he was like, ‘Oh, Dana White, I wish you were here’ — I guess he wasn’t in the crowd.

“Why? Why does he care if he’s there? What’s that gonna do? You want to impress that guy? He’s lost touch with the fans, I don’t know if he ever had touch with the fighters. He’s talking sh*t on Instagram to people, he can’t even pick up the phone and call his fighters. That’s the guy you want to impress? No, you’re a kiss ass, bro.”

Despite his criticism of Felder’s post-fight interviews, Iaquinta acknowledged that he has a difficult task on his hands as he gears up to face “The Irish Dragon”.

“It’s a tough fight. I’ve watched his fights and he’s skilled — that’s why I didn’t take the fight the last time. I need to be paid and I need to train right and I need to put it on this guy. I have the capabilities to make this fight great,” he said.

“He’s been in there with some tough guys, he’s had some good fights. He’s a Thai boxer. He’s very basic but he’s got his spinning techniques — he can’t help himself he has to do at least two of them in a fight. He’s very basic with his stance, he’s got good defense; his hands are up and he’s hard to hit. His head movement is decent, he’s got long legs, powerful kicks and he throws in his spinning techniques every now and then.

“I think me and Ray (Longo) watched him fight and we pretty much broke him down the first time we watched him fight. I think it’s a really good fight for me to showcase my skills. I’m feeling as good as I ever felt. I’m training more for this fight than I’ve trained for a long time, so I’m really looking forward to this.”

Iaquinta underlined his belief that White wants Felder to win. He also stated that a win over Felder would be the perfect way to show the promotion his true value.

“Neither of us has been knocked out,” Iaquinta said. “We knock people out, so I’m going after this motherf*cker. And the whole UFC, a lot of people want me to win, I know they do. Dana wants him to win, that’s his guy. They want him behind the mic looking good. I think it’s a great fight for me.”

He continued: “I know what I’m worth to this company. I’m the man, I’m the guy and I’m training my ass off so I can go in there and put on a show in Brooklyn. I told you I had a plan. Now, it’s all falling into place and I’ve just got to get my job done. This is the point where I prove what I’m worth to everybody. I know what I’m worth, so let’s go.”