Vicente Luque picked up his fourth straight win this past Sunday night (Feb. 17, 2019) after defeating Bryan Barberena in an all-out slugfest at UFC on ESPN 1 in Phoenix, Arizona. On top of getting the “W,” Luque pocketed an extra $50,000 after winning “Fight of the Night” honors.
After a night like that, you’d think everyone in the Luque camp would be happy, right? Uh, not so fast ...
According to the Brazilian Welterweight, his fiance was not pleased that the back-and-forth brawl left his face bloodied and bruised just a few weeks out from their wedding day.
“I’ve got to ice my face up to look good,” Luque told reporters after the fight (via MMAjunkie). “She’s going to be – she is mad at me. She talked to me right there, she said, ‘What’s going on? What fight was that,’” he explained. “This is MMA. Sometimes you go in there and you get the quick finish. Sometimes it doesn’t happen.”
One word: Photoshop.
That said, I’m sure Luque can make it up to his soon-to-be wife by ponying up for an exotic honeymoon thanks to the extra coin he banked. Luque and Barberena wowed fight fans for nearly 15 minutes of non-stop action before Luque managed to put away his tough-as-nails foe. When it was all said and done, both men landed more than 150 significant strikes a piece.
“I knew he was a tough guy,” Luque said. “Obviously, when we’re in there, and we hit him with the best shot we have and the guy keeps moving, we don’t expect that, but I knew he was a tough guy and he was going to bring the fight,” he added.
“Once he knocked me down the first time, I said, ‘Hey, I’m going to fight this guy.’ I threw strategy out the window and said, I’m going to fight him,’ and give a show to everybody and show that I’ve got heart and that I’ve got what it takes to be one of the best over here in this division.”
It proved to be the winning recipe.
Once Luque heals up and enjoys his wedding and upcoming time off, he hopes to get back into the Octagon against a Top 10-ranked opponent. And we know just the guy for him.
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