Luque vs Buckley Prediction: Who’s Going to Sleep?

The co-main event in Atlantic City will certainly deliver as Vicente Luque takes on Joaquin Buckley. The American will try to prove that he is ready to enter the division rankings, but he has failed this quest more than once in the past. Here is our Luque vs Buckley prediction.

UFC on ESPN 54: Luque vs Buckley Prediction

Vicente Luque Preview

Vicente Luque began his professional career in 2009 and has currently managed to fight 32 fights, winning 22 and losing 9. He competed in local promotions, and in 2015 he had three fights in the 21st season of “The Ultimate Fighter”. In February 2015, he made his UFC debut against Haider Hassan and won with an anaconda choke in the first round.

Luque is currently 11th in the ranking of the welterweight division. He is one of the most experienced fighters in this division and has been in the top 15 for quite some time. We definitely cannot say that Luque is in decline. He is simply not good enough to challenge for the title or even the Top 15 in the division. It is always difficult for him to compete with physically strong and resilient opponents.

Until recently, “The Silent Assassin” was on a streak of four victories in a row, but then suffered 2 defeats from Geoff Neal and Belal Muhammad, as a result of which he fell out of the top 10. In his last fight, he managed to defeat former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos by unanimous decision.

Joaquin Buckley Preview

Joaquin Buckley has been a professional since 2014 and during this time he had 23 fights, of which he won 17 and lost 6. He competed in the LFA and Bellator organizations before getting a contract with the UFC. In August 2020, he had his debut fight against Kevin Holland and lost by TKO in the third round.

Buckley tried for several years to get into the top 15 at middleweight and even fought with top-ranked fighters. But over time, he went back to welterweight to try and restart his career and overall, he did fairly well.

Over the last 5 fights, the American fighter has 3 wins and 2 losses. At middleweight, he won against Albert Duraev and then lost to Curtis and Imavov. Moving down to the welterweight division, Buckley knocked out Andre Filho and won a decision over Alex Morono in his last fight.

He feels quite comfortable in the welterweight category due to his incredible physical strength and is now one win away from breaking into the rankings.

Vicente Luque vs Joaquin Buckley Prediction: Tough One to Call

According to bookmakers, there is no clear favorite in this bout. Both opponents' chances of success are estimated to be approximately the same. Yet again, we have a clear idea for a Luque vs Buckley prediction.

On paper, Vicente Luque is a more complete fighter as he has above-average grappling skills. He submitted fighters like Michael Chiesa and Tyron Woodley and if he wants, he can translate the fight to the ground. His only defeats in recent years came against brilliant fighters like Muhammad, Thompson, and Neal.

Both fighters are finishers and from the first minutes of the fight, they will try to get an early finish. Considering Buckley's fragile jaw and Luque's heavy punch, the Brazilian fighter has a great chance of a quick knockout. Of course, Luque often stagnates when he competes with physically strong opponents and there is always a chance. This isn't a bout fit for high stakes.