Trading Shots: Was Al Iaquinta right to go full 'Raging Al' on UFC crowd?

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In this week’s Trading Shots, MMAjunkie columnist Ben Fowlkes and retired UFC/WEC fighter Danny Downes discuss Al Iaquinta’s expletive-laden outburst at those booing his split-decision win over Jorge Masvidal at UFC Fight Night 63.

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Fowlkes: Danny, I admit that when I first heard the story of Al Iaquinta destroying a hotel room because he didn’t get a fight-night bonus after his win over Joe Lauzon, I couldn’t picture it. He seems like a nice guy. How could something like that convince him to go all Axl Rose on his own room? Who does that? And what will become of his Starwood Preferred Guest points as a result?

Then I saw him flip out on the crowd in Fairfax, Va., after they booed a close decision they didn’t like (via Vine):

Then, it suddenly it made perfect sense. This man got the “Raging Al” nickname for a reason.

My question to you is, what did you make of Iaquinta cursing out a crowd? Is that something that every fighter has wanted to do? Did a part of you pump your fist in solidarity? Or was it a childish display from a man who doesn’t understand that the performers are not supposed to allow themselves to be so affected by the whims of the mob?

Downes: In a lot of ways, being a fighter is like having a job in the service industry. You have positive and negative interactions with customers every day, to varying degrees. Have you ever been a waiter or barista? There are a couple people every day who you’d like to tell off, but you don’t do it. You just suffer it silently and bitch about their rudeness with your coworkers.

Every once in a while, though, someone breaks that agreement and lets a customer have it. Fortunately for Iaquinta, I don’t think he’ll get the same type of reprimand for yelling at people that he would if he were working at Starbucks. At the same time, fans might hold that outburst against him.

Like any other sporting event, it’s easy to point out what someone should have done from the comforts of your couch. When you’re in the cage, you become completely consumed by what’s in front of you. Your adrenaline is spiking. This event is the culmination of months of physical, mental, and emotional toil. Then, after all’s said and done, you have people disrespecting you.

Do fans have the right to boo? Sure, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. Look at what happened to Jose Aldo in Ireland. The champ was repeatedly disrespected. He took it all in stride, but if he had flipped out and told the Irish fans to go (expletive) themselves, could you really have blamed him? Is the customer always right?

Fowlkes: The customer is definitely not always right. In fact, depending on your career field, the customer is often woefully ignorant of many aspects of your business. That’s what makes him the customer rather than the competition.

I don’t blame Iaquinta for getting upset with the fan reaction. What I blame him for is how quickly and completely he lost his cool, and with it all semblance of control over the situation.

“Are you booing me?” Iaquinta said when he heard the boos. Then he paused, as if waiting for an answer. As if an arena filled with 5,500 people could respond, “Actually, we are booing the judges, who, to be perfectly honest, we feel made an error. We would like to note, however, that we do respect both your effort and your ability. Our apologies for the misunderstanding.”

His mistake was in trying to turn it into a conversation, and then an argument. That’s not the way to handle that. The way to handle it is to tell – not ask – the crowd that while they may not agree with the decision, and they may have thought Masvidal deserved the victory, they should respect the fact that both men fought their hearts out for the fans, and neither of them deserves to be booed after that performance.

Tell me that wouldn’t have turned the boos to cheers. At the very least, it would have shamed some of the people into awkward silence. Instead, Iaquinta flipped out. He came off like some dude on the expressway who loses his mind whenever anyone cuts him off. That’s not a great look. Not for anyone.

That’s not to say I don’t understand the impulse or the emotion, but come on, isn’t a professional supposed to remain just a little bit above that? I mean, right? Or does Iaquinta’s complete inability to manage or even adequately express his feelings with words only make him more relatable to the “Just Bleed” crowd?

Downes: I don’t know if it does. At the very least I think it cements his place with New York fans. With that accent, I’m just waiting for the Iaquinta “Taxi Driver” spinoff. Furthermore, I think you’re exaggerating the scope of his outburst. You say he has an “inability to manage or even adequately express his feelings with words.” I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of this website called MMAjunkie, but I found a story in which Iaquinta does exactly that.

“Professionalism” is one of those words that analysts, fans and media criminally overuse. Oh no! Someone didn’t shake somebody’s hand! That’s so unprofessional! They’re celebrating too much. That’s unprofessional! You said it yourself, “The customer is often woefully ignorant,” yet you still want athletes to deny that fact.

Honestly Ben, I’m kind of surprised. I thought you would welcome that type of honesty. Instead, you’d rather fighters pander to the audience like a politician. There are certainly advantages (monetarily and otherwise) to that approach, but it’s dishonest. Isn’t that more unprofessional than anything else?

As a journalist, you pride yourself on calling BS on people in power. Why doesn’t the same apply to fans? We want our athletes to be passionate. But when they show that passion and become emotional, we call them “unprofessional.” Could he have been more eloquent? Sure. But isn’t it refreshing to see someone act that way instead of giving a canned, PR response like, “I know you may not agree with the decision, and think Jorge Masvidal deserved the victory. At the same time, both of us fought our hearts out for you guys and you all should respect that.” Oh wait, that’s exactly what you wanted him to say …

Fowlkes: You know what the difference is between my recommended version of his post-fight speech and the version he went with? People would have heard mine. His was a collection of profane outbursts that the network censors didn’t even try to bleep out one word at a time. Instead they cut the sound altogether as Iaquinta shouted into a wall of boos.

You’re right that he did a better job of articulating his feelings at the post-fight press conference (where his words reached a much smaller audience, but fine, better than nothing). He also said this:

“I looked in the crowd, and I saw two kids – I look up, and I see two kids giving me the finger. It just kind of – it was what it was. It set me off. I saw those two little guys, and I was like ‘Ah, if you were standing in here right now, what I would do to you.’”

Al Iaquinta

Um, what would you do, Mr. UFC fighter? Would you assault a couple children who made an obscene gesture at you? Because it kind of sounds like you would, which is a weird thing for you to say. Unless you’re using “kids” in the classic East Coast fashion, meaning “just some dudes.” Even then, think about what you’re saying. You’re the pro fighter here. To paraphrase Jay-Z, you’re the hustler, homie. They’re the customers, crony.

What surprises me, Danny, is that you seem to be making the case that Iaquinta should get some sort of “realness” points for having the courage to launch into an apoplectic tirade. As if the only choice is between dishonest pandering and screaming your head off. I disagree. I think you can explain to people why they’re wrong to boo you without turning it into a shouting match that invites them to drown you out with more boos. You don’t argue with a mob. You steer it where it you want it to go.

That’s what I mean when I refer to professionalism here. You don’t have to be fake to be a professional. The professional understands that he is in control, at least until he loses control. He understands that these people are there to see him – not the other way around. He wields that power and makes it work for him.

Because the minute you start yelling “f-ck you!” at the audience? That’s when you’re no longer the performer in command of the stage. Then you’re just another screaming person in a room full of screaming people. And why should anybody listen to you?

Downes: Yes, he lost control. He had an opportunity to turn a negative into a positive and wound up making the the situation worse. I don’t think that he should be congratulated for yelling obscenities into a crowd. I just don’t think it’s the travesty of sporting that you do. Maybe it’s because I give fighters the benefit of the doubt. Maybe it’s because it’s hard for MMA to have the moral high ground. In a sport predicated upon knocking someone out, how do you tsk-tsk foul language? WHY CAN’T HE CONCUSS PEOPLE IN A MORE POLITE MANNER!?!?

Most fighters can’t handle interviews when they’re sitting in the comforts of their home with time to prepare. Now you’re asking him to deftly manipulate an angry crowd when he’s bleeding and exhausted. We’ve discussed the problems with post-fight interviews in the past, and perhaps this is another example. You can tell me how he should have handled the situation, but what makes you think you’d do any better? Think about how you’ve reacted to criticism on social media. You’re telling me you’ve never lost your cool? And that’s just people typing things on the Internet. Imagine if they were in front of your face yelling it at you.

There’s no doubt that Iaquinta could have handled the situation better. Hopefully he learns a lesson from the matter and doesn’t make the same mistake. We all can think of moments where we’ve wanted to tell someone to go f-ck themselves, but decided against it. It’s about being a professional, and it’s about being an adult.

You know what’s another aspect of being an adult? Avoiding false piety.

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 63, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

Ben Fowlkes is MMAjunkie and USA TODAY’s MMA columnist. Danny Downes, a retired UFC and WEC fighter, is an MMAjunkie contributor who also writes for UFC.com and UFC 360. Follow them on twitter at @benfowlkesMMA and @dannyboydownes.