Atlantic City, NJ — While he’s not fighting a ranked foe in replacement opponent Joaquin Buckley this Saturday at UFC Atlantic City, welterweight Vicente Luque still appears satisfied with the match-up.
Luque (22-9-1) is fighting fill-in “Newmansa” after Sean Brady dropped out of their fight, something of a bizarre situation that arose when the UFC announced the pairing prematurely, only for Brady to reveal he was injured.
The bout had initially been the Atlantic City card’s main event. That is no longer the case; Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City will instead have Manon Fiorot and Erin Blanchfield close out the show this Saturday.
“It’s not a ranked opponent, but everything else is exactly what I wanted,” Luque told media outlets including Cageside Press during Wednesday’s media day. “Let’s go and let’s fight this guy. I know that I have the skills to beat him, I know that I have the skills to go out there and put on a great show for the fans.”
Adding that he’s excited to go out and perform, Luque noted that he’s been in Buckley’s shoes before himself.
“I’ve been in that position before, in Buckley’s position. I’ve been the guy outside of the rankings that people were concerned about, because we’re good, we’re dangerous. Fighting is a risk, there’s always a risk. But I feel like the more risk I take, the more reward I’m going to get from that, and that’s how I look at this fight. Yeah he’s not ranked, he is dangerous, but I am dangerous as well and I’ll give him the opportunity to come in and try to beat me, and show everybody what I can do.”
From an outside perspective, Buckley and Brady would appear to have very different styles, an observation Luque agrees with.
“I agree. Very, very different styles. I think that Brady is more strategical, more of a grappling, wrestling oriented fighter,” noted Luque. “I think both of them are really strong, I could put that, both of them are really strong, maybe similar in that point.”
“Now, one is orthodox, the other guy is southpaw. Buckley is a guy that has very elusive, crazy striking. He comes with shots out of nowhere, very explosive.”
Yet while “on paper they’re totally different guys,” the change in opponents doesn’t seem to have caused too much chaos for Vicente Luque. “The good thing is, this fight got switched before— my training camp usually is between six to eight weeks, and the four final weeks are when I really dive into the style of my opponent. So the change was before that. I was still developing my own skills, my own abilities, what I want to do, how I’m going to impose my will.”
“So it wasn’t that hard to adapt and to change the style into fighting a guy like Buckley. It’s a different game, but a very exciting game to study as well. I love striking, so at the same time, it’s kind of something easier to study.”
Watch the full UFC Atlantic City media day appearance by Vicente Luque above.
