With a win over Belal Muhammad, Vicente Luque thinks Colby Covington could be the fight to propel him to a UFC welterweight title shot.
Luque (21-7-1 MMA, 14-3 UFC) rematches Muhammad (20-3 MMA, 11-3 UFC) in the main event of UFC on ESPN 34 on April 16 looking to go 2-0 against the surging Muhammad.
Should he emerge victorious in his first UFC headliner, Luque likes the idea of facing former two-time title challenger Covington (17-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC), whom he appreciates as a fighter but not so much outside the cage.
“He’s the No. 1 contender. He’s coming off a win,” Luque told ESPN. “I don’t know what’s gonna happen in the division until I fight and after I fight, so it might be a good fight for me to secure that No. 1 contender (spot) and get the next title shot, so we got to see what’s going to happen. When I see Colby, I don’t like his personality, I don’t like who he is as a person outside of the octagon, but I respect him as a fighter. He’s a tough guy. He goes in there and really puts his heart in the fight. So I think it would be an awesome fight. He would go in there and try to beat me; I’m going to go in there and try to finish him.”
Luque has been on a tear through the welterweight rankings. The 30-year-old has scored stoppage wins in his past four fights, earning three bonuses for his impressive showings. If he gets past Muhammad, Luque sees someone with Covington’s style as the perfect prep for champion Kamaru Usman.
“He’s a wrestler,” Luque said of Covington. “He’s a guy that’s gonna try to control me, very (much) like Kamaru would try and do against me, so I think it would be a good training. Go in there, five rounds against a guy like Colby and go out there and try and beat him, secure my No. 1 spot, and that might be an option for sure.”
