Vicente Luque record: Who was the first fighter to knock out 'The Silent Assassin'?
Equally good on both the ground and feet, Vicente Luque is one of the top talents in the UFC's welterweight division. Moreover, he sports a fan-friendly style, with most of his fights ending in finishes.
'The Silent Assassin' holds a record of 22-9-1 with 11 knockouts and eight submissions to his name. He holds wins against many of the divisional greats, such as Tyron Woodley, Michael Chiesa, and Belal Muhammad.
While he has lost on nine occasions, the lone knockout loss of his career came at UFC on ESPN 40 in August 2022 against Geoff Neal.
Watch Geoff Neal KO Vicente Luque below:
Luque was knocked out by Neal in the third round with a crushing left hand at the end of a multi-punch combo. The 32-year-old was given a minimum of a one-year suspension after suffering brain bleeding during the bout.
Later, in August 2023, he returned to the sport in a unanimous decision win over former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos.
'The Silent Assassin' is currently ranked No.11 in the 170-pound division but is a long way away from landing a title shot since he is devoid of a win against any of the divisional top-10 in recent times.
In his next fight at UFC on ESPN 54, the Kill Cliff FC affiliate is set to face former middleweight staple Joaquin Buckley.
When Vicente Luque spoke about why his brain injury "worried" him
Vicente Luque made a quick turnaround to active competition barely a year after suffering a brain bleed in his KO loss to Geoff Neal. However, his road to recovery was far from easy and was filled with uncertainties.
During the media day for his return bout against Rafael dos Anjos, 'The Silent Assassin' stated that there was even a possibility that the injury might have put an end to his fighting career:
"I don't know why [but] in a way I felt like it could happen, just because I've never been knocked out and I was hit a lot and Geoff hits hard... So they [the doctors] told me [about the injury] and I was like okay, what do we have to do?... at that point I was kind of like relaxed and I was confident that I was going to get better and that was it. Then days after that... that's when they told me, 'Hey now we're going to do all these tests and see if you can fight again.' That got me worried."
Catch Vicente Luque's comments below: