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Luque out to claim Dos Anjos scalp
Vicente Luque will look to claim the scalp of former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos when they meet in the welterweight main event of a UFC Fight Night at the APEX Facility in Las Vegas on Sunday morning.
Luque (21-9-1) comes into the match on the back of two successive losses at the hands of Geoff Neal and Belal Muhammad, and will need a headline-grabbing result to get his career back on track.
The 31-year-old Brazilian-American believes that “overthinking” cost him dearly in his defeats to Neal and Muhammad: “What I did always want to do is to put on the best show I can, to do the most impressive fight that I can do. That’s what motivates me and that’s what I used to do in the past, and I kind of – I was so focused on that run for the title, looking for that title shot and getting the all the wins I needed to, I started not fighting as free as I used to.”
‘The Silent Assassin’ added, “I’ve got to be too strategical. I’ve got to make sure that this or that doesn’t happen so that I can do this, and then I’m going to get the win, and then I’m going to get those steps toward the title, and then I can fight for the title, and then I can become champion’ – and that’s never been me. So I think that now, that’s the key: just to go in there and do what I do, because what I do is always good, it’s always fun and it has worked all my life.”
Dos Anjos (32-14) is fresh from a second-round submission win over Bryan Barberena in December 2022, and believes he still has plenty left in the tank of his MMA career.
“I had my last title run, and now it is time to fight people that motivate me to wake up and train,” said the 38-year-old. “I have almost eight hours of octagon time, get me a veteran for a change. I would love to fight guys like Jim Miller, Jorge Masvidal or get my rematch with Tony Ferguson or [Clay] Guida.”
‘RDA’ added, “[I am] not looking for retirement any time soon. [I] took a look at my records and I’ve been very competitive in all my fights against high level guys. [I] still got a lot in me. [I’m] gonna write my name in MMA/UFC history with more fights and hours in the Octagon. Mark my words.”
The rest of the main card features Khalil Rountree Jr v Chris Daukaus in a light heavyweight co-main; a women’s strawweight match pitting Polyana Viana against Iasmin Lucindo; Josh Parisian v Martin Buday in the heavyweight division; and a middleweight opener between Josh Fremd and Jamie Pickett.
Main event: Welterweight: Vicente Luque v Rafael dos Anjos
Light heavyweight: Khalil Rountree Jr v Chris Daukaus
Women’s strawweight: Polyana Viana v Iasmin Lucindo
Heavyweight: Josh Parisian v Martin Buday
Middleweight: Josh Fremd v Jamie Pickett
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