Vicente Luque is scheduled to fight Belal Muhammad in the main event of a UFC Night this weekend, on April 16. Both fighters are currently top contenders in the Welterweight division. A win here will further propel them towards their goal of getting a title shot.
‘The Silent Assassin’ is currently on the rise in the welterweight division. And along the way, has picked up many fans with his display of fearless aggressive fighting style inside the Octagon. Vicente has picked up many impressive wins throughout his career over big shots like Tyron Woodley, Randy Brown, Mike Perry, and Michael Chiesa to name a few.
Luque trains at the renowned Sanford MMA gym currently under the head coach, Henri Hooft. Like his fellow training partner Gilbert Burns, he also left Blackzilians back in 2017. Hooft is Luque’s striking coach, and he practices wrestling under the guidance of Neil Melanson.
Vicente has excellent grappling skills as he trains BJJ under Rafael “Foffito” Barros, who also happens to be the BJJ coach of Burns. In 2021, he was promoted to black belt in both Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Luta Livre on the same day.
As he trains in Sanford MMA, it is safe to assume that his training partners include Gilbert Burns, Michael Chandler, and Derek Brunson among many others.
Ahead of his rematch against Belal Muhammad this weekend, he shares his thought on this fight:
Vicente Luque explains why he will never fight Gilbert Burns
Vicente Luque and Gilbert Burns are both top-tier welterweights. Yet the two will never fight one another. Not only do both fighters train together at Sanford MMA, but they are also incredibly close friends and essentially “brothers”. Luque said then that he would never fight Burns due to their close familial relationship.
Chiesa is one of the most accomplished grapplers on the UFC roster and his submission skill puts him in the elite grappler’s category in the roster. But Luque managed to submit him with a D-Arce Choke and Gilbert Burns who was standing in his corner seems to be jumping in joy while celebrating Luque’s victory at UFC 265.
In a recent interview, Burns reaffirmed that he and Luque will not fight each other.
“The UFC said the fight to make would be Vicente and me, but since we have this partnership, it won’t happen. This brotherhood screwed us; otherwise, we would have fought already.” Burns said.
A big time rematch in the welterweight top 5 ????????@VicenteLuqueMMA vs @BullyB170 goes down THIS WEEKEND!
[ #UFCVegas51 | Saturday | LIVE on @ESPN ] pic.twitter.com/Cr7rg5DJHf
— UFC (@ufc) April 11, 2022
But coming into this weekend’s rematch, Luque will face Belal Muhammad for the second time after their first fight in 2016. That fight took place at UFC 205 which was the biggest fight card ever at that stage.
The rematch is 6 years in the making and promises to be an exhilarating contest between two fighters. Although the match-up may favor Luque more, the result may go either way as Belal Muhammad is better than ever.
Discussion about this post