UFC 249: Vicente Luque bludgeons Niko Price’s eye to earn TKO by doctor stoppage
- ‘The Silent Assassin’ is back in the win column as he looks to surge up welterweight rankings once again
- ‘It became a brawl but I wanted to give a show on the first event back. And I think I did that,’ says Luque
Vicente Luque landed the perfect counter left hook to TKO Niko Price in the third round at UFC 249 on Saturday night. Referee Jason Herzog had no other option but to waive the fight off after Price's near-closed right eye was deemed too damaged to continue by the doctor.
The late finish takes Luque (18-7-1) to seven wins in his last eight fights, going 2-0 against Price (14-4, one no contest) after finishing him with a D'arce Choke in 2017.
“I beat him last time, so I knew it wouldn't be easy and he wanted to take my head off,” said Luque, who had also knocked Price down in the second round with a right hook.
“I tried to improve my game and show more head movement. It became a brawl but I wanted to give a show on the first event back [since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic]. And I think I did that.”
“The Silent Assassin” Luque impressed with his counter-punching despite Price trying his best to make the fight a slugfest.
“I work a lot with my left hook,” said the 28-year-old Brazilian. “[Coach] Henry [Hooft] always tells me it’s really powerful so I worked a lot on that and my head movement in my camp. I wanted to show my improvement, get cleaner shots.”
Luque is now looking to surge up the welterweight rankings again after Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson had halted his progress at UFC 245 in December.
“I definitely think that I’ve gotten better since my last fight and that I’m still here,” he added backstage. “I’m still here to be relevant and get up that division and eventually fight for that title. I still have a lot to improve, I’m 28 years old, I’m excited for this and I’m excited for how much I have to improve.
“I was not able to show everything I’ve improved because Niko is an awkward guy and he came in hard and tried to take me out and brought different situations, but at the same time I felt happy with my performance. And considering how everything went for this camp, it wasn’t the ideal camp with everything going on, but I feel good and I had fun in there.”
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