Kevin Lee has a little history with Al Iaquinta. Back in 2014, Lee was fresh off the north american regional fight circuit, just two years into his young career, but with an impressive 7-0 unbeaten record. That’s when the UFC signed him and put the then 21-year-old in the cage against former Ultimate Fighter 15 finalist Al Iaquinta.
Iaquinta wasn’t notably much more experienced than Lee at the time, but - as Lee recently revealed in an interview on the MMA Hour (transcript via MMA Fighting) the Serra-Longo talent still represented a big step up from the competition the ‘Motown Phenom’ had been dominating outside the Octagon.