Vicente Luque would be open to fights with Khamzat Chimaev and Colby Covington if he gets past Belal Muhammad next month
Top UFC welterweight Luque is unbeaten in his last four fights with all of his wins coming by stoppage. 'The Silent Assassin' has stayed true to his nickname by slowly working his way up the 170-pound rankings to find himself at No.4 in the division.
Luque will look to push himself one fight closer to a title shot when he rematches Belal Muhammad on April 16. The pair fought six years ago at UFC 205 as Luque won by first round knockout.
And of his title hopes this year, Luque told Mirror Fighting. "I truly believe I will [fight for the title], I will do everything in my power to. I'm focused on beating Belal but I think that will take me a step closer to that title fight. We've got to wait for Leon [Edwards] vs Kamaru [Usman].
Current welterweight champion Usman is pencilled in to defend his title against Edwards in July. Luque - who served as a replacement fighter for Usman's last title fight - would be willing to take up the same position again.
"I believe if I'm healthy and I beat Belal, I can stay ready for that [title fight] if anything goes on," he added. "If I need to fight Khamzat or Colby because he's number one I will be willing to fight. If whoever takes the title wants to fight once more this year, I will be ready for the call."
Covington headlined UFC 272 earlier this month against former teammate turned bitter rival Jorge Masvidal. The dust hadn't settled after their five round fight as Masvidal was arrested and charged last week for allegedly ambushing Covington at a Miami restaurant.
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Luque wasn't surprised to hear the news and thinks Covington's trash talk was always bound to have consequences, stating: "When you disrespect people, you're gonna get payback eventually.
"Masvidal's a guy that didn't like what was going on and he chose to take revenge in that way, I don't agree with Masvidal but I can maybe understand why he did it. Colby talks so much trash and he's just going to get it back to him. I believe he lost a tooth, so I'm sure that he's not very happy to be toothless now.
"He's just a guy who wants to make money and he'll do whatever it takes. I don't appreciate him as a person outside of the octagon. I think he's a great fighter, but as a person I really don't like who he is."
