At UFC 223, Al Iaquinta stepped up and faced Khabib Nurmagomedov on just one day’s notice. It came about after a week full of drama outside of the Octagon.

Khabib’s original opponent, Tony Ferguson, was forced to pull out of his the main event with Khabib, just one week ahead of the fight, after a bizarre knee injury suffered when he tripped over some cables, whilst carrying out media obligations.

UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway replaced Tony on one’s notice. However, the 145lbs champ was deemed medically unfit to fight during the weigh-ins and pulled from the fight.

After talk that Anthony Pettis and Paul Felder would replace Holloway, Felder’s UFC 223 opponent Iaquinta got the nod. Although because he had weighed in 0.2lbs over championship weight, he wouldn’t be eligible to win the belt.

And if all that drama wasn’t enough for one event, UFC 223 also saw Conor McGregor and friends attack the bus that Khabib and several other fighters were on.

Despite all the drama and fighting on one day’s notice, Iaquinta put in an impressive performance, only losing by decision.

Since UFC 223, ‘Raging Al’ has beaten Kevin Lee, last December. This weekend he will take on ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone in the UFC Ottawa main event. And as he told TMZ Sports, the 31 year old is hoping to put in another impressive performance, to get him one step closer to a rematch with Khabib.

How do you think Iaquinta would do against Khabib in a rematch?

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