At UFC on ESPN 1 in February, Vicente Luque and Bryan Barberena delivered a battle for the ages.
Luque, who at that point had finished each of his UFC wins, was on the cusp of hitting the upper tier of the welterweight rankings. But unable to secure the big fight he was looking for, he took on the tough and gritty Barberena in a risky fight against an opponent who was not afraid to stand and bang.
And that’s exactly what the two warriors did over the course of almost 15 minutes until Luque was able to score a late finish with just seconds left in the fight. Two judges had the rounds one each, and the third had Barberena up 2-0, proving how pivotal Luque’s finish was.
“The Silent Assassin” went on to notch two more wins: a finish over Derrick Krantz and a split decision win over Mike Perry in his most recent outing in August, extending his winning streak to six.
Luque (17-6-1 MMA, 10-2 UFC) returns to action and will finally get the big step up in competition he’s been wanting when he takes on two-time welterweight title challenger Stephen Thompson (14-4-1 MMA, 9-4-1 UFC) on the main card of UFC 244 on Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN2 and ESPN2/ESPN+/UFC Fight Pass.
Ahead of his UFC 244 fight against Thompson, relive Luque’s back-and-forth war with Barberena in the video above.
UFC 244 free fight: Vicente Luque and Bryan Barberena engage in 'Fight of Year' contender
