UFC fighters are always looking to gain an advantage over their opponents before the fight, whether it is by training harder than them or by talking trash to them to get into their heads. However, Vincente Luque had his wife put the picture of his opponent as the wallpaper on his phone.
In an interview with Show Me The Money podcast, Luque revealed why he does this peculiar little thing and said,
“That’s something we like to do. Gregory does that sometimes too, like have a picture of his opponent…We use that to get used to your opponent’s face and get that war mentality….on my phone.”
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Safe to say the method worked extremely well for the Brazilian fighter. He ended up putting his last opponent, Themba Gorimbo to sleep within one minute of the very first round at UFC 310.
With this win, Luque also proved that he was still in his prime and could compete with the division’s new contenders.
He will now look to build on this momentum and make a title charge late in his career. He has all the facets to crack the top 5 and go on to challenge for the title as one of the most experienced fighters in the division.
Not just that, Luque is what one would consider a complete fighter, with excellent striking complimented by a solid ground game.
But he doesn’t want to jump ahead of the queue. Luque understands that Shavkat Rakhmonov, the boogeyman of the welterweight division is next in line for the title shot. Besides Luque understands that despite all the jokes that are made at Belal’s expense, he is the champion of the division and for good reason.
Luque gives Belal his flowers
Welterweight fighters are usually always calling out the champion for being a ‘boring fighter’, but Luque does not see it that way. But Luque respects Muhammad’s fight IQ and strategy and how well he’s used it all to create the best game plan to fight every top contender in the division.
“Everybody doubts Belal. I’ve doubted Belal so many times you know I didn’t think he was going to beat any of the guys he beat…He is a guy that studies a lot, he’s very good at doing like the perfect game to beat anyone”
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Luque isn’t just blowing smoke either. Having fought the champ to the distance in their fight back in 2022, he has seen it firsthand. Even then, Belal had used his ground game very effectively to dominate the Brazilian on the way to a decision victory.
He has since been feuding with Nick Diaz and has been fighting newcomers like Gorimbo but believes that the tides will turn for him soon enough. He has been counted out the same way Belal had been counted out by most. But then one fine day…
