The first piece of the puzzle for UFC 205 at Madison Square Garden in New York City on November 12th has been revealed, with Thiago Alves set to fight Al Iaquinta in a lightweight bout.
Alves will be dropping down to lightweight for the first time in his career after a long run in the UFC’s welterweight division that peaked back in 2009 when he fought Georges St-Pierre for the title.
In more recent times Alves has been plagued by injury woes, at one stage spending over two years out of action between March of 2012 and April of 2014, while he’s again been abscent for well over a year since losing by TKO due to a doctor’s stoppage against Carlos Condit in the summer of last year.
Looking at it from a different perspective, the 32 year-old has only fought three times in four and a half years, so hopefully dropping down a weight class can revitalize his career.
The 29 year-old Iaquinta is a tough first test for ‘Pitbull’ though, as the native New Yorker is currently on a four fight winning streak that’s seen him defeat the likes of Ross Pearson, Joe Lauzon and most recently Jorge Masvidal.
In total, Masvidal has won seven of his last eight fights and is currently ranked No.13 in the division.
Like Alves, ‘Raging’ Al has been out of action for over a year, having underwent knee surgery and then had another bout agreement fall through, so he’ll be fired up to make his return, particularly since it’ll be taking place on home soil in New York City.
Alves Vs Iaquinta is the first bout annoucned for UFC 205, but even bigger fights are expected to be unveiled in the coming weeks for what’s expected to be one of the biggest events of the year.
