UFC welterweight Vicente Luque has not been quiet in his campaign for a title shot. Luque, ahead of his headliner fight against Belal Muhammad on April 16, is hoping for a chance to take on welterweight’s enfant terrible, Colby Covington, to seal his chance for UFC gold.
Luque told ESPN that Colby would be a major scalp, and a serious statement of his intention to capture the title.
Luque: Colby is his Ticket to Welterweight Gold
“He’s the No. 1 contender. He’s coming off a win. I don’t know what’s gonna happen in the division until I fight and after I fight, so it might be a good fight for me to secure that No. 1 contender [spot] and get the next title shot, so we got to see what’s going to happen.
When I see Colby, I don’t like his personality, I don’t like who he is as a person outside of the octagon, but I respect him as a fighter. He’s a tough guy. He goes in there and really puts his heart in the fight. So I think it would be an awesome fight. He would go in there and try to beat me; I’m going to go in there and try to finish him.”
Colby Covington’s most recent fight was a dominant win over Jorge Masvidal. Prior to that, Colby failed in his second attempt to defeat Kamaru Usman. The welterweight title picture has been dominated by the Usman-Colby-Masvidal love/hate triangle for the past few years, and with Vicente Luque emerging as a serious contender, we may well see another chapter in the illustrious history of the 170-pound division.
If Vicente Luque can win over Belal Muhammad once again, he’ll try to line up a shot at Colby Covington. Luque, although he is best known for his ferocious striking, has recently added lethal grappling to his arsenal, making him a major threat in a division dominated by all-American wrestlers. The fact that Colby’s high-pressure fighting style is similar to Usman’s means that Luque views Covington as a great warm-up for an eventual title fight.
“He’s a wrestler. He’s a guy that’s gonna try to control me, very (much) like Kamaru would try and do against me, so I think it would be a good training. Go in there, five rounds against a guy like Colby and go out there and try and beat him, secure my No. 1 spot, and that might be an option for sure.”
Do you think Colby Covington will be the gatekeeper for Vicente Luque? Let us know in the comments.
