Vicente Luque has two names in mind for his next Octagon appearance. Nate Diaz or Michael Chiesa.
At UFC Vegas 5 last Saturday, Luque picked up another knockout win as he scored a second-round KO over Randy Brown. It was a solid performance for the now 10th ranked welterweight, who expected to get another finish.
“Definitely man, I had a good strategy going into this fight and I knew a lot of his game,” Luque said to MMANews. “I kind of knew what I needed to do to get a good win. I went in there and had a dominant game plan and execute it.”
Following the win, Vicente Luque called out Nate Diaz. Days later, the Brazilian-American still feels like that fight makes sense, now that he is ranked in the top-10.
“I love that, I always thought I deserve in the top-10, I feel like I am ready to face these guys. I’m just waiting for that name. I called out Nate Diaz, we will see if he will respond and if that fight happens. I’m ready to fight anyone in the top-15,” he explained. “I’d love to fight another big name like Michael Chiesa, it is a fight that makes sense. Number 10 against number eight would be great as well.”
Whether or not Nate Diaz will respond to Vicente Luque or take the fight is to be seen. But, if it does come to fruition he believes he would score a late finish over Diaz.
Luque also hopes the fight would be five rounds in a Fight Night main event.
“I don’t think it would be a quick one. He can take a lot of damage and a good aggressive fighter. He is a good fighter, it would be a Fight of the Night, really aggressive, most of it standing,” Luque said. “I see me getting a late knockout. If we get a five rounder, which makes sense, I see a fourth or fifth-round knockout for me.”
Although Diaz is Luque’s first option, he knows there is a chance he doesn’t take the fight. So, he already has another name in mind and that is Michael Chiesa.
Chiesa is currently ranked eighth at welterweight and is 3-0 in the division. He’s coming off a big win over Rafael dos Anjos earlier this year. So, for Vicente Luque, he says that would be the fight he can finally show off his ground game.
“At this moment, I’m looking to go up the division. There are guys up there who are really good grapplers and I need to face a guy like Chiesa to showcase all the weapons I have, not just my striking but my ground and wrestling,” he explained. “That would be a fight where I can showcase my abilities and a great test of myself to see the level up there.”
Regardless if it is Nate Diaz or Michael Chiesa, Vicente Luque just wants his next fight to be the main event so he can finally headline a UFC show.
“I want to fight five rounds, I feel like that fits me really well. I’m an aggressive fight and I fight at a high-pace,” Luque concluded. “When I fight three rounds, every round is a high pace so I feel like I can go another two rounds. It is something I want to do, so we will see. Now that I have name recognition, that it makes sense for me to headline.”
