UFC welterweight contender Vicente Luque is perfectly satisfied with the opponent that he drew for his next outing. Paired up against grappling specialist Michael Chiesa at UFC 265, the ‘Silent Assassin’ knows he will have his hands full against the ‘Maverick’, but that won’t stop the Brazilian from believing he is going to finish his game opponent.
In an interview with Ag Fight, Luque sang Chiesa’s praises, calling him a dangerous fighter on the mat. In fact, Vicente looks at the pairing as a way to prepare for the top of the welterweight division, which is populated by great wrestlers such as Colby Covington and champion Kamaru Usman.
“The camp is going very well. I have lots of partners who can emulate Chiesa’s game. He’s excellent on the ground. I feel very well prepared. I didn’t want to sit around and wait. This is the ideal opponent, he’s on a good streak and showed he’s a top guy in the division. It’s the kind of fight I want right now. I want to fight the top of the division, fight for the belt. This fight, it prepares me for the big ones, like Covington and Kamaru. To have a guy like Chiesa, who is going to try to take me down and hold me down in order to win, is a great fight to show the tools I’ve been developing.”
“I think it’s hard to have a boring fight with me,” Vicente continued. “Because I go for it. Even if you take me down, I got ground skills as well. I trust my skills anywhere. I’m going to be looking to finish the fight, be it on the ground or on the feet. Even if Chiesa doesn’t have the most attractive way of fighting, it’s going to be hard (to be boring) against me. He needs to develop his striking, but you can’t underestimate it. I’ve watched many of his fights, even at lightweight. He managed to knock down Jorge Masvidal. He’s the kind of guy you need to be careful around.”
Currently on a three-fight winning streak, Luque (20-7-1) finished Niko Price, Randy Brown, and former champion Tyron Woodley in his most recent outings. The 29-year-old’s last defeat went down in November 2019, when he dropped a unanimous decision to fellow contender Stephen Thompson.
Luque is expected to take on Chiesa at UFC 265, on August 7, in Houston, Texas. The card is scheduled to be headlined by an interim title fight for the heavyweight belt, between top contenders Derrick Lewis and Ciryl Gane.
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