Michael Chiesa has fought a lot of notable names in his career, but he thinks his upcoming opponent is his biggest threat to date.
Chiesa (18-4 MMA, 11-4 UFC) meets Vicente Luque (20-7-1 MMA, 13-3 UFC) on Aug. 7 at UFC 265 in a pivotal welterweight clash at Toyota Center in Houston.
The Season 15 winner of “The Ultimate Fighter” has been on an incredible run since moving up from lightweight and has nothing but respect for Luque, who has dazzled fans with an array of finishes in his ascent up the welterweight ladder.
“I will say this right now: I think Vicente Luque, bar none, hands down is the most dangerous guy that I’ve been matched up with today,” Chiesa told Michael Bisping on the “Believe You Me” podcast. “He’s won nine of his last 10 with eight finishes. He rattles up these performance bonuses all the time, really dangerous. He’s got good power in his hands. He’s got great discipline with his stand up. You don’t see him make a lot of mistakes. He’s fundamentally sound. He stays within the basics, and I’m not saying that in a derogatory way.
“Basics win fights, and he’s very good at the meat and potatoes when it comes to standup. He’s got really, really good defense, and he has this uncanny ability to where guys get comfortable, he’s so disciplined with his defense, guys just start kinda pecking at him, pecking at him, and they’ll start to get lazy because they can touch him a little bit and when he starts letting his hands go, guy has devastating power, and he has submissions in his arsenal. So I think that this is the most dangerous guy I’ve faced to date.”
Chiesa is wary of Luque’s multi-faceted skill set that has posed problems for the majority of the division. He thinks the primary mistake fighters have made against Luque is getting too relaxed, and he vows not to do the same.
“I can’t make a single tactical error in this fight if I want to win,” Chiesa said. “I have to be on point. I cannot make a mistake because this is a guy, when you watch film on him, guys will have great fights against him until they make one small, minor error, and it changes the whole momentum of the fight. He’s from a good camp. I know he’s been training in Brazil a lot, but he’s been a staple at Sanford MMA for a long time.
“He’s a very tough guy. I think the world of him. He’s a good competitor, he’s a family man, and he’s dangerous as f*ck, but I’m really excited for the opportunity. I feel like the guys that pose these kinds of threats when it comes to danger and doing damage, I feel like that brings out the best of me because my senses are a lot higher.”
In the stacked welterweight division, Chiesa thinks the winner of his fight against Luque should emerge as the No. 1 contender after Leon Edwards. Although the UFC is touting Colby Covington as the next title challenger, Chiesa strongly disagrees.
“I think that whoever wins this fight, even if Luque is the better man and gets his hand raised, I think he should move on and fight for the title,” Chiesa said. “I think Leon should be next. I have no problems saying that. He’s on a sick win streak, you gotta give the guy what he deserves. He has paid his dues, he’s undefeated in his last 10 fights, but I think whoever wins between me and Luque should be next. … I don’t think this f*cking guy (Covington) should be able to win one fight in a year and sit on the sidelines.”
Michael Chiesa: UFC 265 fight vs. Vicente Luque ‘bar none, hands down’ my most dangerous