Michael Chiesa knows that he let the pressure get to him this weekend. In a welterweight bout with Vicente Luque, Chiesa succumbed to a D’arce choke only minutes into the first round. This came mere moments after Chiesa executed a takedown and attempted a brutal rear naked choke, a rapid reversal that must have been tough to take.
After the fight, Chiesa released a statement on his social media discussing the pressure of the bout and his mental state leading into, and emerging from, UFC 265.
Chiesa reveals that he “cracked” under UFC 265 pressure
“I want to jump out in front of this now. First and most importantly, congrats to [Luque], he’s a stone cold killer and a class act. I look forward to seeing what’s next for him. It was an honor sharing the octagon with him.
To say I’m embarrassed is an understatement. Physically I was in the best shape of my life, mentally I was battling myself every single day. I put too much pressure on myself this fight and I cracked. Historically throughout my career, every time I have faced adversity and came up short, I’ve turned around and grown tremendously. A couple more wins and I’ll be back in the mix.
The goal remains the same, my belief is still just as strong and I love every single person that supports me so much that it hurts.”
It’s a classy response to the situation from Chiesa, and one that Vicente Luque will likely appreciate. Leading into the fight, many appreciated the old-school stylistic matchup. Luque is primarily known as a striker, with plenty of knockouts to his name, while Chiesa is a formidable grappler notorious for submission wins.
In many ways, the striker vs grappler aspect was a throwback to the old days of the UFC, when it wasn’t uncommon to see a Muay Thai kickboxer take on a BJJ practitioner. However, as Luque expressed before the fight, he’s far more comfortable on the ground than we’ve seen from him before. While Chiesa clearly wanted the fight on the ground, looking to execute an early submission via rear naked choke, Luque’s defensive grappling was enough for him to escape the submission.
From there, all Luque needed was the opening to execute his D’Arce choke, which according to his post-fight interview, is a favorite of Luque’s in training. A submission win over one of the most formidable grapplers in the division is a serious feather in Luque’s cap.
Do you want to see Chiesa bounce back from this loss and continue aiming for Kamaru Usman’s title? Let us know in the comments.
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