- Vicente Luque shared what’s going on in his mind now that he is about to face a former champion in Rafael dos Anjos
- “The Silent Assassin” assessed his chances of beating RDA
No. 10 welterweight contender Vicente Luque is hoping to get back to his winning ways when he faces former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos in August. As he gears up for his next bout, “The Silent Assassin” talked about his mindset for the said fight.
RDA is an important fight
In an exclusive interview with Middle Easy, Luque said he didn’t think twice in agreeing to fight a high-level fighter like RDA as he is certain it’s the kind of fight that could put him back into the fold.
“I really didn’t expect to fight Rafael,” Luque admitted. “I think it was a great great matchup and I think Ali Abdelaziz, my manager, I thank him for getting this matchup because I was breaking my head trying to see who I was gonna fight, looking at the rankings. A lot of guys had fights scheduled, I wanted to get a fight that made sense, that was gonna kind of move me up if I get a big win. I wanted to get back to that top five and always, as soon as possible, go for that run again for the title and it was kind of hard because everybody had big fights matched up and I was like, man who am I gonna fight? And then suddenly Ali comes with this fight and offers me and this makes a lot of sense you know, a former champion, a guy that you know, has all the history in the UFC, so definitely was a big fight and I didn’t have to think much about it you know it was a yes right away.”
The plan is to use all advantages and go for the finish
As for his strategy, Luque said that he wouldn’t do the same things he did in his previous fights and that’s being too strategic. Instead, he vows to go back to his best attribute which is to fight freely, while also utilizing his size and reach advantage to get a finish. However, “The Silent Assassin” said he would also be careful because RDA is still a “dangerous” fighter.
“I think that that’s a really good thing I got going to this fight because not only I’m probably the heavier of the two of us so that’s gonna kind of help me in the grappling sense, I’m not the guy that will go more I believe he’s gonna go more for the grappling so I’m gonna have that weight advantage you know maybe if we’re in the fence or if he’s trying to get me down I think that’s gonna be good you know to have a little bit weight on top of him but obviously that comes into the speed. Maybe he’s gonna have the slight speed advantage, that’s not something that worries me that much because I am pretty quick with my hands and the and the foot movement you know so that’s something I’ve been working even more now so that’s something that I’m not gonna be too concerned about and the other advantage I think is the reach so I’m gonna have also the reach advantage on him I think it’s mostly going to be how I’m able to use that in my favor,” Luque assessed.
“I’m not gonna say that’s the key for the fight, [or] I beat him because I’m the bigger guy but definitely if I can take advantage out of that, I’m gonna try to do it and use it as best as I can in my favor but always be aware that that he’s a dangerous guy so I’m not gonna forget that otherwise I’m gonna underestimate him and that’s it,” he continued.
“I think I got all the finishes because I used to fight free in the sense that I didn’t care much about if it was going to be a finish or not what I did always wanted to do is to put on the best show I can to do, the most impressive fight that I can do. That’s what motivates me and that’s what I used to do in the past and I kind of [changed] I was so focused on you know that run for the title, looking for that title shot and getting the all the wins I needed to, I started kind of like not fighting as free as I used to so you know I gotta be too strategical, I gotta make sure that this or that doesn’t happen so that I can do this and then I’m gonna get the win and then I’m gonna get those steps toward the title and then I can fight for the title and then I can become champion and that’s never been me,” Luque revealed.
“So, I think that now that’s the key. Just to go in there and do what I do because what I do is always good it’s always fun and it has worked all my life,” he continued.
Reaction to Burns vs. Muhammad
Luque also shared his thoughts on the welterweight title eliminator about between Belal Muhammad and Gilbert Burns at UFC 288. For “The Silent Assassin,” it was unfortunate for “Durinho” to lose a very important fight because of an injury but he also credited “Remember The Name” for winning.
“Man, I was so mad at that fight and it was a tricky fight you know because when like he had a perfect beginning of the year you know, beating [Jorge] Masvidal that was unbelievable. I was there watching that fight and that was perfect, that was beautiful and then that fight [with Belal] got offered and what can I say mean even I, I’m a fighter myself and I know how hard it is when a decision like that comes and I would have done like Gilbert you know, jump into that because it’s a big opportunity it was like, ‘Okay now we’re gonna secure that title fight and that’s it’ and when I look in paper like Gilbert is for me, in my opinion, so much more skilled, so much more dangerous than Belal is and I thought it was gonna be you know definitely a big win for him and then the fight went how it went,” Luque commented.
“Props to Belal, he’s a really smart guy, he goes in there does what he needs to do it’s not always the funnest fight to watch but he still he gets the the win and that’s at the end of the day, that’s what we want,” he continued. “But the injury that sucked you know, to see Gilbert fighting without an arm, we knew that he could do more and unfortunately he wasn’t able to do that during the fight so I don’t know it’s hard.”
Luque has gone winless in his last two trips to the Octagon and is coming off a KO loss to Geoff Neal at UFC Vegas 59. However, a win against a former champion like Dos Anjos could surely put him in a better spot.
