From Wikipedia
Gian Villante
For his UFC debut, Gian Villante faced fellow promotional newcomer Ovince St. Preux on April 27, 2013, at UFC 159.[15] The fight ended in unusual fashion as St. Preux accidentally poked Villante in the right eye with his thumb and referee Kevin Mulhall immediately called an end to the fight after Villante indicated that he could not see. As a result of the injury, the fight went to the judges' scorecards and St. Preux won a majority technical decision (30–28, 30–29, and 29–29).[16]
Villante took a short notice bout, replacing Robert Drysdale against Cody Donovan on November 16, 2014, at UFC 167.[17][18] He won the fight via TKO in the second round, earning his first official UFC victory.For his third fight with the promotion, Villante faced Fábio Maldonado on March 23, 2014, at UFC Fight Night 38.[19] He lost the fight via unanimous decision.Villante was expected to face Anthony Perosh on June 28, 2014, at UFC Fight Night 43.[20] However, Perosh was forced out of the bout with an injury and was replaced by Sean O'Connell.[21] He won the fight via split decision.[22] Their performance earned both participants Fight of the Night honors.[23]Villante was expected to face Corey Anderson on December 6, 2014, at UFC 181.[24] However, Villante pulled out of the fight citing an injury. Anderson remained on the card against Justin Jones.[25]The bout with Anderson eventually took place on April 18, 2015, at UFC on Fox 15.[26] Villante won the fight via TKO in the third round. The fight also earned him his second Fight of the Night bonus award.[27]Villante faced Tom Lawlor on July 25, 2015, at UFC on Fox 16.[28] Despite controlling the first round with strikes, Villante lost the bout via knockout early in the second round.[29]Villante faced Anthony Perosh on November 15, 2015, at UFC 193.[30] Villante won the fight via knockout in the first round.[31]Villante next faced Ilir Latifi on March 5, 2016, at UFC 196.[32] He lost the fight by unanimous decision.[33]
Villante was briefly linked to a bout with Marcos Rogério de Lima on November 12, 2016, at UFC 205.[34] However, Villante pulled out of the fight on September 21 citing a minor injury and the bout was scrapped.[35] In turn, Villante is expected to face Patrick Cummins the following month on December 9, 2016, at UFC Fight Night 102.[36] Subsequently, Cummins pulled out of the fight on December 2 citing a staph infection.[37] He was replaced by promotional newcomer Saparbek Safarov.[38] Villante won the fight via TKO in the second round.[39] Both participants were awarded Fight of the Night for their performance.[40]
Villante faced Maurício Rua on March 11, 2017, at UFC Fight Night 106.[41] He lost the fight via TKO in the third round.[42]A rescheduled bout with Patrick Cummins eventually took place on July 22, 2017, at UFC on Fox 25.[43] Villante lost the back-and-forth fight via split decision.[44]Villante faced Francimar Barroso on January 20, 2018, at UFC 220.[45] He won the fight via split decision .[46]Villante fought Sam Alvey on June 1, 2018, at UFC Fight Night 131.[47] He lost the fight via split decision.[48]Villante fought Ed Herman on October 27, 2018, at UFC Fight Night 138.[49] He won the back-and-forth fight via split decision.[50]Villante faced Michał Oleksiejczuk on February 23, 2019, at UFC Fight Night 145.[51] He lost the fight via TKO due to a body punch early in the first round.[52]Villante was expected to face Mike Rodriguez on July 13, 2019, at UFC Fight Night 155.[53] However, on July 4, 2019, Villante pulled out of the event for an undisclosed reason and was replaced by John Allan.[54]Villante faced Maurice Greene on June 27, 2020, at UFC on ESPN: Poirier vs. Hooker.[55] He lost the fight via an arm-triangle choke submission in the third round.[56]Villante faced Jake Collier on December 5, 2020 at UFC on ESPN 19.[57] He lost the fight via unanimous decision.[58]Villante fought Chris Barnett on November 6, 2021 at UFC 268.[59] He lost the fight via TKO in round two after getting knocked down via a spinning wheel kick.[60] Villante announced his retirement after the fight, and planned to return to football as a coach.[61][62]
AL "Raging" Iaqunita
Iaquinta officially made his UFC debut at The Ultimate Fighter 15 Finale on June 1, 2012, against Michael Chiesa to determine the winner of The Ultimate Fighter: Live. Iaquinta lost to Chiesa by submission due to a rear naked choke early in the first round.[13]
Iaquinta was expected to face Joe Proctor on April 27, 2013, at UFC 159.[14]However, the bout was scrapped as both fighters sustained training injuries leading up to the fight.[15]
Iaquinta faced Ryan Couture on August 31, 2013, at UFC 164, replacing an injured Quinn Mulhern.[16] He won the bout via unanimous decision, after dominating the fight on the feet and negating all of Couture's takedown attempts.
Iaquinta was expected to face Anthony Njokuani on October 26, 2013, at UFC Fight Night 30, replacing an injured Paul Taylor.[17] Then on September 24, Njokuani pulled out of the event with an injury.[18] Iaquinta instead faced Piotr Hallmann.[19] He won the fight by unanimous decision (29–28, 30–27, and 30–27).
Iaquinta faced Kevin Lee at UFC 169 on February 8, 2014. He won the fight by unanimous decision (29–28, 29–28, and 28–27).[20]
Iaquinta faced Mitch Clarke at UFC 173 on May 24, 2014.[21] He lost the fight via submission (D'arce choke) in the second round.
Iaquinta faced Rodrigo Damm at UFC Fight Night 50 on September 5, 2014.[22] Iaquinta defeated Damm via third-round TKO.[23][24]
Iaquinta faced Ross Pearson on November 8, 2014, at UFC Fight Night 55.[25] Despite being the underdog, Iaquinta won the fight via TKO in the second round.[26]
Iaquinta faced Joe Lauzon on January 31, 2015, at UFC 183.[27] He won the fight via TKO in the second round.[28]
Iaquinta faced Jorge Masvidal on April 4, 2015, at UFC Fight Night 63.[29] He won the bout via controversial split decision.[30] 13 of 15 media outlets scored the bout in favor of Masvidal.[31]
Iaquinta was expected to face Bobby Green on July 15, 2015, at UFC Fight Night 71.[32] However, Green pulled out of the fight in mid-June, citing an undisclosed injury, and he was replaced by Gilbert Melendez.[33] Subsequently, Melendez was removed from the card on July 6, after it was revealed that he tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs after his previous fight at UFC 188.[34] In turn, Iaquinta was removed from the card as well.[35]
Iaquinta was expected to face Thiago Alves on November 12, 2016, at UFC 205.[36] However, Iaquinta announced on September 19 that he would not be taking the fight due to a contract dispute with the promotion.[37]
After two years away from the sport, Iaquinta returned to face Diego Sanchez on April 22, 2017, at UFC Fight Night 108.[38] He won the fight via knockout in the first round.[39]
Iaquinta was expected to face Paul Felder on December 2, 2017, at UFC 218.[40] However, Iaquinta pulled out of the fight on October 31 due to being unsatisfied with his current contract, and he was replaced by Charles Oliveira.[41]
UFC Lightweight Championship fight
The bout with Felder was rescheduled and was expected to take place on April 7, 2018, at UFC 223.[42] However, because of an injury to interim UFC Lightweight Champion Tony Ferguson and the state athletic commission's decision to pull replacement UFC Featherweight Champion Max Holloway over concerns over his weight cut, Iaquinta was scheduled as a replacement against Khabib Nurmagomedov in the five round main event.[43] Although the fight was scheduled for the vacant UFC Lightweight Championship, only Nurmagomedov was eligible to win the championship due to Iaquinta weighing in at 155.2 lbs which is two tenths of a pound over the championship weight limit of 155. Iaquinta had already weighed in for his fight against Paul Felder prior to officially being announced as the new replacement. Non-championship bouts allow fighters to weigh in one pound over the limit.[44] Ultimately, Iaquinta lost the fight via unanimous decision.[45]
