UFC Predictions: UFC Fight Night: Vicente Luque vs. Belal Muhammad 2
This weekend sees the UFC return to the Las Vegas Apex facility for its latest Fight Night show. To say this is a step down from last weekend’s spectacular pay-per-view is an understatement.
UFC Fight Night: Vicente Luque vs. Belal Muhammad 2 features an excellent headline bout, but the rest of the card leaves a lot to be desired and the bout order is yet to be fully determined.
A big time rematch in the welterweight top 5 🤜🤛
@VicenteLuqueMMA vs @BullyB170 goes down THIS WEEKEND!
[ #UFCVegas51 | Saturday | LIVE on @ESPN ] https://t.co/Cr7rg5DJHf
So with little on the line, the best that fans can probably hope for this weekend is a bunch of exciting fights, even if they’re not likely to be all that memorable.
Here are the predicted outcomes for UFC Fight Night: Vicente Luque vs. Belal Muhammad 2.
#1. UFC welterweight division: Vicente Luque vs. Belal Muhammad
This bout is not only a rematch of an earlier clash, but it could also produce an under-the-radar title contender at welterweight. Given that champion Kamaru Usman looks unstoppable right now, any potential contenders being thrown up for him is a good thing, meaning this fight will definitely be worth watching.
Firstly, it’s worth looking at what happened in the first battle between Vicente Luque and Belal Muhammad, which took place at UFC 205 back in 2016. Unsurprisingly, given that the show was one of the most loaded in the promotion’s history, the fight took place on the preliminary card.
It also didn’t last long at all. Essentially, the two men swung heavy punches at one another, with Luque producing cleaner and more effective strikes. Eventually, a left hook landed on Muhammad’s jaw and turned his lights out in just over a minute.
Vicente Luque: Analyzing My Knockout of Belal Muhammad po.st/FI4t95 via #UFC205 https://t.co/NyNouRlYON
Since then, ‘Remember the Name’ has been on quite the run. He’s won 10 of the 12 fights that have followed, with his only loss coming to Geoff Neal. The other fight he didn’t win, of course, saw an errant eye poke turn his bout with Leon Edwards into a No Contest.
Muhammad isn’t a great finisher, as he’s only put one opponent away, Takashi Sato, during his current run, but he’s definitely effective. A powerful wrestler first and foremost, he also possesses a strong boxing game that has allowed him to keep his opponents largely at bay, meaning he can outpoint them.
In contrast, Luque is one of the most renowned finishers in the entire UFC right now. Of his 14 victories in the octagon, just one has gone the distance and he’s used his strikes and submissions to take out the likes of Tyron Woodley, Michael Chiesa and of course, Muhammad himself.
It’s safe to say that if this fight ends in a stoppage, it’ll probably be ‘The Silent Assassin’ who gets his hand raised. However, he has shown weaknesses against more patient opponents before, with Stephen Thompson and Leon Edwards, who didn’t look to get too wild or brawl with him, being responsible for his two losses.
With that said, Muhammad’s two big wins over Thompson and Demian Maia were against fighters who were both aging and were good stylistic matches for him. The same can’t be said for Luque, who should be confident given what he did to ‘Remember the Name’ in their previous fight.
Given that, the pick is Luque via knockout.
The Pick: Luque via first-round TKO