Luque Won’t Overlook ‘Dangerous’ Woodley

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight champion Tyron Woodley once considered himself to be the greatest 170-pound champion of all time, but failed to back it up against Kamaru Usman when the cage door closed at UFC 235 back in early 2019.

Consecutive losses to Gilbert Burns and Colby Covington were soon to follow.

But No. 10-ranked welterweight contender Vicente Luque doesn’t believe the recent struggles from “The Chosen One” makes him any less dangerous, which is why “The Silent Assassin” is bringing his A-game this weekend in “Sin City.”

“Woodley is an ex-champion,” Luque told MMA Junkie. “He’s not in a good spot right now, but he remains highly dangerous. He has several great wins in his career, and I’m on a new winning streak. I’m hungry to get a title shot. Both of us have something to prove. He wants to be champ again, and I want to prove that I can also get there and be one of the most dominant fighters in our weight class.”

Luque will fight Woodley in the UFC 260 pay-per-view (PPV) co-main event this Sat. night (March 27, 2021) inside APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada, a spot on the main card that opened up when Alexander Volkanovski was bounced from the lineup due to COVID-19.

The Brazilian improved to 19-7-1 after winning eight of his last nine, including back-to-back wins over Niko Price and Randy Brown, both by way of knockout/technical knockout. Turning away Woodley is likely to get him close to the Top 5 of the division.

A loss, however, could send him tumbling out of the Top 10.