Due to conflicting schedules, welterweight contender Vicente
Luque was not able to help friend and teammate Gilbert
Burns with preparation for his highly-anticipated bout against
Khamzat
Chimaev at UFC
273.
“We normally do most of our camps together, but this time was
different,” said Luque, who is scheduled to face Belal
Muhammad in the UFC on ESPN 34 main event on April 16. “While
he stayed in the U.S., I came to Brasilia, but we talked almost
every day about our daily routine since I’ll fight Belal seven days
after [his bout].”
Despite not being able to help Burns, Luque has no doubt
that his teammate’s strength and cardio will force Chimaev to
answer questions that he is not accustomed to answering.
“Chimaev’s first round is very strong. On the other hand, ‘Durinho’
is not easy to take down and dominate,” Luque said. “I’ve trained
with him for a long time, and it’s really impressive the
pace he can keep fighting five rounds. In my opinion, he will
survive a stong opening round from Chimaev and impose his will in
Rounds 2 and 3 to get the win. ‘Durinho’ is the right man to stop
Chimaev.”
Given his own status in the division, Luque has more incentive than
usual to cheer for his friend and training partner at UFC 273.
Luque has won his last four in the Octagon and nine of his last 10
overall and figures to be close to a title shot with another
victory.
“If Burns wins next Saturday, I don’t see the UFC giving him a
chance to face Kamaru [Usman] next since he just lost to the
champion [at UFC 258]. I truly believe he will fight for the belt
again, but not now,” Luque said. “The same works for Colby
[Covington], who lost twice to Kamaru. In that case, if I beat
Belal on April 16, it makes all the sense for the UFC to give me
the title shot next since I’m the welterweight with the most
finishes.”
Luque already defeated Muhammaed via first-round KO in their
initial meeting at UFC 205 in November 2016. That doesn’t make “The
Silent Assassin” overconfident heading into the rematch,
however.
“Not at all. I’m sure it’s going to be a totally
different fight,” he said. “In six years Belal has become a
completely different fighter. When we fought the first time,
he was a fighter that just looked for the knockout walking forward.
After our fight, he totally changed. Today he is a really tactical
guy. I´m sure he will try to neutralize my game since I’m
always going to look for theKO and submission from the first
second, but I´m ready to fight five rounds if necessary.”