Randy Brown is thankful that Vicente Luque is a man who stays true to his word. Which is why he has a fight with the 11th ranked welterweight at UFC Vegas 5 on Saturday.
The pair were first booked for April, until the coronavirus wrought havoc on western shores. It continues to do so, but with a health and safety plan worked out, the UFC has been able to resume its activities these past few months. Luque, for his part, went on to fight Niko Price at UFC 249, mere weeks after their originally scheduled date on April 11.
Luque took home the win, a doctor’s stoppage in the third round. By all rights, he could have set his sights higher up the ladder in the deep 170lb weight class. Instead, he agreed to pick up where things had left off with Brown.
Speaking to Cageside Press at the UFC Vegas 5 media day, Brown admitted that he was somewhat surprised by the turn of events.
“Yes, I actually was. Only because he fought a number 10. He moved up in the rankings. Now he’s up in the rankings, I figured, well, he’s gonna want to move up and fight upwards now,” Brown told us. “I respect the fact that he actually was a man of his word and decided hey, I’ve got unfinished business, I’m gonna continue what I started with this dude.”
In fact, Brown had actually messaged Luque on Instagram after the Price fight, to say just that — that they had unfinished business. “And here we are today.”
As for the match-up itself, Brown told us that “I believe that styles make fights. I think he’s a great fighter, I think he’s a great pressure fighter.” If there’s a flaw in Luque, it’s that “he’s a one dimensional fighter from my perspective, but other than that he’s a great guy, great competitor.”
Watch the full UFC Vegas 5 media day press scrum with Randy Brown above.
