A pair of veterans (and former welterweights) faced off in middleweight action on the UFC 327 prelims, as Vicente Luque stepped into the cage against Kelvin Gastelum.
Gastelum was coming off a victory over Dustin Stoltzfus in September, while Luque had dropped two straight bouts.
Starting the opening round, Gastelum came out pressing the action and threatening big left hands. Luque retreated to the fence looking land leg kicks and jabs to keep Gastelum at range. Gastelum ducked under a punch securing a bodylock that ended up leading to a takedown against the fence.
Working back to his feet, Luque was able to separate from the clinch. Gastelum then ran into a right hand from Luque in the pocket that floored him. Pouncing on top Luque landed damaging ground and pound before transitioning to a D’arce choke. Gastelum couldn’t find his way out of the choke and was forced to tap.
A signature submission for Vicente Luque who earned a a monumental win, as the company will certainly want to see him return. Luque locked up his fifth career D’arce choke submission with this victory, and earned his seventh win on numbered UFC events.
Official Result: Vicente Luque def. Kelvin Gastelum by submission (D’arce choke), Round 1, 4:08
