UFC welterweight Vicente Luque made a welcome return to the Octagon at UFC Vegas 78, defeating former champ Rafael dos Anjos via decision.
Vicente has been charging around the welterweight rankings for a while now, but he has a fresh opponent in mind. At the post-fight show, Luque named elite lightweight Dustin Poirier as an exciting option.
Vicente Luque Wants To “Welcome” Dustin Poirier To UFC Welterweight Division
“An interesting fight as well, I think I would love to welcome Dustin Poirier [to welterweight] if he needs somebody. He said he might go to 170 so who knows, we can make that work.”
Poirier is at a crossroads in his career, succumbing to back-to-back losses. His charge at Charles Oliveira ended in submission loss, and his latest tilt at Justin Gaethje saw “The Highlight” knock out “The Diamond” to claim the BMF belt.
Luque and Poirier boast 21 bonuses and 12 Fight of the Night awards over their combined careers, which on paper makes for an exciting fight.
Luque may have another motivator: in dos Anjos, he faced a man who fought most of his career at lightweight, like Poirier. Did Vicente Luque like being the bigger man?
“Kamaru [Usman] told me ‘you’re going to be the bigger guy in there, you’re going to be stronger because you always fought at 170.’
That’s what I felt in there. Once he shot, I stuffed it, I turned around and I was putting my weight on him and I could feel he had do a lot of power to move me and I was just maybe 70 percent controlling him so I could conserve some energy but still put pressure on him, throw the shots.”
Luque did, however, have some real concerns about RDA’s power and stamina. “I did have the fight I did expect. I did expect him to be as tough as he was.
I think in there, I really felt like I was dominating in every exchange in wrestling. I felt like my cardio was there.
I heard his coach speaking to him ‘he’s tired as well, he’s also tired!’ I was like I’m not tired and then I started punching him like you’re tired, you’re trying to clinch me.”
There was another side of me that was worried. Like before I took those shots, I didn’t know how I was going to be in a fight. I took those shots and OK, you’re good. That’s why you’re here, and you’re ready to go.”
