Luque, Muhammad set to run it back

Vicente Luque and Belal Muhammad will run it back when they meet for the second time, in the welterweight main event of a UFC Fight Night at the APEX Facility in Las Vegas on the morning of Sunday 17 April 2022.

Luque (21-7-1, 11 KO) has put together a four-fight win streak, most recently submitting Michael Chiesa in the first round of a match at UFC 265 in Houston, Texas in August of last year.

‘The Silent Assassin’ was the victor when he and Muhammad met at UFC 205 in November 2016, knocking out his opponent 79 seconds into the first round of their clash.

The 30-year-old from New Jersey is hoping that a fifth straight win puts him in line to have a crack at Kamaru Usman, the current UFC welterweight king.

“Kamaru has a very strong rhythm. In many fights, it imposes strength, resilience, it’s a strong point,” said Luque.

“I also push the rhythm up there, especially in my area, the striking. This can complicate it. Colby [Covington] was one of the guys who came closest to putting him in danger because he put a lot of volume in the standup.

“I can do it too, but with knockout power, I hit pretty hard for the division, I know I could knock out anyone, including Kamaru.”

Muhammad (20-3, 1 NC, 4 KO) is unbeaten in his last seven trips to the Octagon (including a No Contest against Leon Edwards in which an accidental eye poke rendered Muhammad unable to continue) and most recently claimed a unanimous decision win over Stephen Thompson in December of last year.

The 33-year-old, known as ‘Remember the Name’, is also vying for a shot at the division title, but wants to ensure he gains revenge over Luque first.

“Now I'm gonna fight Luque, a guy that's a knockout artist, a guy that's knocked me out before,” he explained.

“So I go out there and dominate this guy, who is on a huge streak right now, I finish him as a main event, there is no other excuses you could give, make for anybody else besides me.

"I'm gonna have the best resume in the division, the best resume at welterweight and I haven't fought Kamaru Usman before and I had the perfect style to fight Kamaru Usman because as we see with Colby, a guy with wrestling, a guy with cardio, a guy with volume and I have all those things and I'm better than Colby everywhere. So I'm that guy that could beat Kamaru Usman.”

The rest of the main card features a women’s bantamweight clash between Mayra Bueno Silva and Wu Yanan; Pat Sabatini v TJ Laramie in the featherweight division; and a welterweight thriller between Elizeu Dos Santos and Mounir Lazzez.

UFC Fight Night: Luque v Muhammad 2 – Main card

- Main event:Welterweight: Vicente Luque v Belal Muhammad

- Co-main: Women’s bantamweight: Mayra Bueno Silva v Wu Yanan

- Featherweight: Pat Sabatini v TJ Laramie

- Welterweight: Elizeu Dos Santos v Mounir Lazzez