Preview: UFC Fight Night 129 ‘Maia vs. Usman’

Welterweights
Vicente Luque vs. Chad Laprise
Odds: Luque (-210), Laprise (+175)

This is a quality fight to open up the main card. Luque and Laprise are a combined 11-4 in the UFC in one of the deeper divisions of the sport. Both men have been hanging around the mid-tier, but Luque has finished all five of his Octagon wins and Laprise has stopped his last three opponents as well. This speaks to the need for a step up in competition, which is exactly what they’ll give each other.

The Canadian is a high-paced kickboxer, landing nearly five significant strikes per minute. He has solid footwork, never standing right in front of his opponent but pumping the jab while cutting angles. His finish streak has demonstrated his deceptive power, as he buckled Brian Camozzi with a cross to the liver and knocked out Thibault Gouti. The Adrenaline Training Center stalwart is also well-rounded. He lands slightly more than one takedown per fight and defends nearly 80% of his opponents’ takedowns. The BJJ purple belt showed off that part of his game in taking down, advancing on, and punching out Galore Bofando in December. But Laprise will have his hands full in this one.

Luque is a brown belt in jiu-jitsu and aggressively hunts submissions on the mat. His submission game is aided by the fact that he often hurts opponents on the feet first. “The Silent Assassin” either wraps up their necks as they desperately dive for takedowns or follow his wounded prey to the floor for a mercy-kill sub. The Henri Hooft-trained fighter has developed one-shot power in his hands, the kind that puts men to sleep before they hit the floor. Luque isn’t afraid to pressure because of his confidence in his power and submission game, so he stalks forward. He utilizes step-in knees or hard body kicks from temporary stance-switches and punctuates his punching combinations with leg kicks. These all serve to help corral his man back toward the cage, where a left hook, overhand right combination will spell the end of the road.

Laprise is a quality fighter, but he is outgunned in this matchup. The Canadian will have to stay on his bike and jab his way to victory, or work takedowns while steering clear of Luque’s venomous submissions. That is a thin line to have to walk. Laprise could pull it off, but the more likely scenario involves the Brazilian landing the harder shots and winning rounds. If he doesn’t sleep Laprise, he’ll put in 15 minutes of work on his way to a decision.

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