Nothing about Vicente Luque screamed future Ultimate Fighting Championship contender when he jumped into the professional mixed martial arts pool as a teenager. While his record stood at 2-2-1 through his first five appearances, those initial brushes with adversity forced him to push harder on Brazil’s cutthroat regional scene and cleared the way for progress.
Now widely regarded as one of the Top 10 welterweights in the sport, Luque will carry the momentum of a four-fight winning streak into his rematch opposite Belal Muhammad in the UFC on ESPN 34 main event this Saturday at the UFC Apex. Though he knocked out Muhammad in just 79 seconds at UFC 205 in 2016, “The Silent Assassin” puts little stock in the result.
“I see this as a new fight,” Luque said. “The first time around, it lasted less than a minute and a half. It was a last-minute booking, so there isn’t much to learn from that bout. I can’t expect to bring the same game and get a knockout in the same way. I think he’s evolved a lot since then.”
Indeed, Muhammad has lost just once in 12 appearances since, joining Luque near the top of the 170-pound weight class. The Chicago native has not competed since he took a one-sided unanimous decision from Stephen Thompson at UFC Fight Night 199 on Dec. 18. Thompson happens to be the last man to beat Luque.
“He has wins over great fighters in our weight class,” Luque said. “I’ve also been improving and becoming a better fighter. It’s going to be a very difficult fight. It will be much harder, but it will match our skill level. I’m ranked No. 4 [by the UFC], and he’s No. 5. This is an important fight which will probably define a future challenger for the belt. A win could leapfrog me to be belt, depending on how other bouts play out. It’s very important.”
Luque respects Muhammad’s evolution as a martial artist—the Roufusport product executed a career-best seven takedowns against the flummoxed Thompson—but expects the outcome of their confrontation to remain the same, even though the process may take longer.
“I normally envision all my bouts ending early,” he said. “We are supposed to have five rounds. I’m getting ready for that. I think that’s important—it can get me ready for a future championship fight—but I still feel that I can finish most of my fights by knockout or submission. I think I can get another finish against Belal. It depends on where the fight plays out.
“I don’t expect a fast fight,” Luque added. “If I can keep it on the feet, I can get a knockout in the third or fourth round, and if we hit the mat and he tries to wrestle me, as he’s been doing lately, I’ll sink in a submission once he’s exposed. I will work for an earlier finish, but I’ll be ready to fight all five rounds.”
As has been his custom, Luque split his training time between Sanford MMA in Deerfield Beach, Florida, and Cerrado MMA in Brasilia, Brazil. The partnership between the two camps has worked wonders for his career.
“Whenever I do my camps in Brazil, coach Henri Hooft, Gilbert Burns and everyone at Sanford is involved,” Luque said. “They know how my training sessions are going. They help me out. Whenever I can, I send videos to Henri. He calls my coach in Brazil, and they talk about what I could improve.”
Luque has stopped his last four opponents—he victimized Michael Chiesa with a brabo choke in his most recent assignment at UFC 265 in August—and shows no signs of deviating from the approach that made him one of the UFC’s go-to action heroes.
“My style is to step into the cage with the intent of getting a finish [either by] submission or knockout,” he said. “I never want to leave it up to the judges.”
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