Preview: Luque vs. Neal
Vicente Luque will attempt to get back on the rails in the Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight division when he faces Geoff Neal in the UFC on ESPN 40 co-headliner this Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Both men occupy spots in the latest Top 15 rankings at 170 pounds. Luque has rattled off 10 wins over his past 12 outings. However, he finds himself on the rebound following a unanimous decision loss to Belal Muhammad in their UFC on ESPN 34 rematch a little less than four months ago. Neil, meanwhile, has won eight of his last 10 fights. The Fortis MMA rep has not competed since he eked out a split decision over Santiago Ponzinibbio at UFC 269 in December.
As Luque and Neal approach their forthcoming confrontation in the Nevada desert, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:
30: Years of age for Luque, who was born on Nov. 27, 1991 in Westwood, New Jersey.
11: Luque wins by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 52% of his career total (21). His list of UFC victims: Muhammad, Randy Brown, Niko Price, Derrick Krantz, Bryan Barberena, Jalin Turner, Chad Laprise and Hector Urbina. Luque holds eight other wins by submission (38%) and two more by decision (10%).
400,000: Dollars in post-fight bonuses banked by Luque across his 18 appearances in the UFC. He has been awarded “Performance of the Night” on four occasions and “Fight of the Night” on four others.
14: Consecutive calendar years in which Luque has fought at least once. In addition to his 0-1 mark so far in 2022, he went 2-0 in 2009, 0-1-1 in 2010, 1-1 in 2011, 1-1 in 2012, 2-1 in 2013, 1-0 in 2014, 1-1 in 2015, 3-0 in 2016, 1-1 in 2017, 2-0 in 2018, 3-1 in 2019, 2-0 in 2020 and 2-0 in 2021.
149: Combined victories between the eight opponents—Muhammad, Stephen Thompson, Leon Edwards, Michael Graves, Carlos Alexandre Pereira, Alfredo Souza, Marcos Antonio Santana and Felipe Portela—who have defeated Luque. They boast a .749 cumulative winning percentage (149-45-5).
31: Years of age for Neal, who was born in Austin, Texas, on Aug. 28, 1990.
8: Neal victories by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 57% of his career total (14). His list of UFC victims: Price, Mike Perry and Frank Camacho. Neal owns two other victories by submission (14%) and four more by decision (29%).
29: Rounds completed by Neal as a professional mixed martial artist. He has gone the distance on six different occasions and carries a 4-2 record in those bouts.
6: First-round finishes on the Neal resume, with two of them having taken place inside the Octagon. He dismissed Brian Camozzi with a rear-naked choke 2:48 into their UFC Fight Night 126 pairing on Feb. 18, 2018 and cut down the aforementioned Perry with a head kick and follow-up punches 1:30 into their UFC 245 encounter on Dec. 14, 2019.
.719: Cumulative winning percentage between the four opponents—Thompson, Neil Magny, Kevin Holland and Martin Sano—who have beaten Neal. They sport a combined record of 69-25-2.