Vicente Luque will upgrade honeymoon trip to Ireland with UFC Phoenix bonus

MMAfighting.com

Eighth stoppage victory in nine bouts. ‘Fight of the Night’ bonus. One of the biggest topics from UFC’s first card on ESPN. Vicente Luque’s night at UFC Phoenix was perfect — except for the bruises and cuts he suffered just four weeks before his wedding.

Luque stopped Bryan Barberena with six seconds on the clock after an exciting brawl in Arizona, and now has to heal in time before his wedding day with Carol Silveira on March 16. Despite that, he suffered no other injuries during the welterweight war.

“She was happy with the win, but was tense and worried during the fight [laughs],” Luque told MMA Fighting. “(The bruises) are no big deal. The plan was to come out with my face clean and it wasn’t possible, but that was for a good reason. It was a great fight and I managed to come out victorious, and that’s what matters the most.”

As for the $50,000 check for the best fight of the night, Luque plans to use the extra cash to help pay the wedding and upgrade their honeymoon trip to Ireland.

“Maybe I’ll go to (Conor) McGregor’s (gym) to train,” Luque said. When asked how Carol would react to him training during their honeymoon, he quickly said “I’m kidding”.

Being victorious in eight of his last nine UFC bouts, all by stoppage, and winning on ESPN was enough to finally move him into the promotion’s top 15, sitting at No. 14. Going forward, he targets a fight with a ranked opponent.

After the fight, Luque called for a fight with Neil Magny, who recently had a two-fight winning streak snapped by Santiago Ponzinibbio in Argentina. The Brazilian is hoping to be back in action before July, so he can fight one more time later in 2019.

“It was an important card, many people watching, so everyone will be impressed and know my name after a fight like that,” Luque said. “Hearing Dana White, the UFC, everybody talking about this fight and considering it one of the best of the year is an honor for me. That will be great for my career.”

Luque called out Magny because he doesn’t have a fight booked right now, and will oblige to face him “whenever he’s available.”

”It’s a good match-up for me,” Luque said. “I’ve been fighting southpaws, so it’s a style I’m used to dealing with. He’s an interesting fight for me.”

With three submission finishes and five knockouts under the UFC banner, the Brasilia native believes he can stop Magny wherever the fight goes.

“I won’t change my style, so I will go there to trade with him,” Luque said. “If the fight goes to the ground, like my last one, I will try to submit him. I wasn’t able to submit Bryan Barberena because he’s extremely tough, man. I got to some positions but he didn’t tap. With Neil Magny, I will put pressure to finish the fight on the feet and on the ground.”