Exclusive: Drew Dober: I'm Very Interested in an Al Iaquinta Fight

Mandatory Credit: Jeff Bottari - Zuffa LLC 

In the midst of a three-fight streak of stoppages - lightweight division challenger, Drew Dober has emerged as a worrying force for his 155-pound counterparts.

Fresh from a stunning second-round knockout of prospect, Alexander 'The Great' Hernandez at UFC Fight Night Jacksonville on May 13th. - the Nebraska native leapfrogged the wrestling ace into the top-fifteen rankings via the triumph. Following another knockout win over Marco Polo Reyes last June - Dober featured at UFC 246 in January, taking out uber upstart, Nasrat Haqparast with a first-round barrage.

The division appears to be the oyster for Dober at this time, with an August return targeted for his next Octagon outing. In terms of an opponent, the Elevation Fight Team trainee has voiced his interest in a meeting alongside multiple time tentatively booked amateur opponent, 'Ragin' Al Iaquinta.

Speaking with Colin Crandall from the MMA Power Hour, Dober explained how a pairing with Iaquinta, "makes sense" given the current lie of the lightweight land.

"It makes a lot more sense, given the fact him (Al Iaquinta) and I were scheduled to fight each other on numerous occasions," Dober explained. "He was an undefeated amateur up in New York and I was an undefeated amateur in Nebraska and we were scheduled to fight each other and it didn't happen. Then we were regional pros and we were trying to fight on the local circuit and that didn't happen. And, we were on the same Ultimate Fighter together. I didn't make it in the house and he made it to the semi-finals or finals, whatever. We've been neck to neck since teenagers so yeah, I'm very interested in an Al Iaquinta fight. I just think it's funny - it's gonna happen eventually."

For Al Iaquinta, an outing against 31-year-old contender, Dober - would offer him the opportunity to bring an end to a two-fight losing skid, which includes defeats to future Hall of Fame inductee, Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone, and streaking contender, Dan 'The Hangman' Hooker. Before his UFC 223 loss to current lightweight best, Khabib Nurmagomedov - Iaquinta had recorded a five-fight rise, scoring wins over Jorge Masvidal, and legendary division trio, Ross Pearson, Diego Sanchez, and Joe Lauzon.