Vicente Luque showed no ill-effects from fighting on short-notice, handing Niko Price the first defeat of his career at UFC Sao Paulo.
Fighters filling-in on short-notice is nothing new in MMA, but doing so within a couple weeks of the event is always surprising. After Luan Chagas was pulled from his originally scheduled bout against Niko Price due to a fractured foot at UFC Sao Paulo, it looked as though Price’s visit to Brazil wouldn’t happen. But, American-Brazilian Vicente Luque answered the call to give us a fantastic welterweight matchup in the Brazilian city.
Price entered the bout with his unbeaten record still intact, despite a KO victory over Alex Morono being overturned in Texas earlier this year. Price bounced-back with a decisive first-round TKO of Alan Jouban at UFC Mexico City in August, signalling his intentions for the top-15 of one of the promotion’s premier divisions.
Despite the deserved hype around Price, 25-year-old Luque isn’t far from the rankings himself. He lost his last fight against Leon Edwards at UFC London, but had won his previous four in the promotion, which included two Performance of the Night bonuses.
The duo traded shots for the first couple of minutes, with Luque landing more often than Price throughout a largely uneventful first round. Luque controlled the center of the Octagon and the pace in the first round, winning a close first-frame 10-9.
Both fighters were slightly more aggressive to begin round two, and it was Luque who took advantage of controlling the pace of the fight. Landing from range, Luque was patient and strong throughout the first few minutes of the second round.
Price began to bleed from a cut above his left eye, and was struggling to get off of his back-foot in the fight. Luque then dropped Price with a strong right hand to the left eye of Price, followed it with a combo, and landed some heavy ground-and-pound before sinking in a d’arce choke late in round two to secure the victory.
Vicente Luque def. Niko Price via submission (D’arce choke) at 4:08 of Round 2
