Al Iaquinta pursuing Myles Jury (photo Josh Hedges / Zuffa )

By FCF Staff

Al Iaquinta may have come up short in the TUF 15 Finale versus Michael Chiesa, but since the submission loss the powerful lightweight has done nothing but win.

The New York fighter has rebounded by scoring decision victories over Ryan Couture, Piotr Hallmann and most recently Kevin Lee, and this Saturday Iaquinta will look to make it four in a row versus Mitch Clarke at UFC 173. In a recent interview with UFC.com, Iaquinta had this to say about his recent run, and what fans can expect from him in the coming months.

“I’ve always been confident in my skills,” Iaquinta (8-2-1) said. “I went through 13 weeks of the toughest season of The Ultimate Fighter and the first day of fights I beat Jon Tuck and then I beat Myles Jury so that should tell you something about who I am as a fighter. Thirteen weeks is a grueling journey and in the finale, Michael Chiesa and I were both beat up after such a long journey, and anything can happen. I made one mistake and he capitalized. I hurt my knee in the semis against Vinc Pinchel and that was tough on me, but I’m back now, and me winning three fights in a row now, that’s just who I have always been.”

Clarke (10-2), meanwhile, is coming off a UD victory over John Maguire, after dropping bouts to John Cholish and Anton Kuivanen.

UFC 173 will be hosted by the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, and will feature bantamweight champ Renan Barao taking on TJ Dillashaw.