Photo by Alexandre Schneider /Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC
Vicente Luque and Mike Perry faced each other in a Welterweight clash tonight (Sat., Aug. 10, 2019) at UFC Fight Night 156 inside Antel Arena in Montevideo, Uruguay, only on ESPN+. The two went to war for the full three rounds, resulting in a close split decision win for Luque.
Luque opened the bout with a hard right hand. Perry jumped into a missed kick, ate a low kick. Perry scored with a right hand. Another good right hand, then the two traded low kicks. Luque landed a left. A pair of strong left kicks bounced off the guard of Luque. Another strong jab landed from Luque, followed by a low kick. Good left hand from Perry glanced off the chin of Luque. Hard low kick scored for the Brazilian. Perry landed a loaded up jab. Luque fired a nice jump knee to the jaw. The two traded stiff jabs. More good low kicks scored for Luque. A flurry of hooks landed well for Perry, but Luque answered with a knee.
The two exchanged quickly to begin the second round. Luque scored with a cross, prompting Perry to pursue a takedown in the clinch. It failed, but Perry landed a good elbow on the break. Luque with a strong left kick landed, then a counter right over the top. Luque really started to find his openings with Perry trapped on the fence. More stiff jabs landed from each man. Perry landed some strong left hands while eating low kicks. Perry followed up with a hard right uppercut and tried to swarm, but Luque countered with an elbow. A pair of hard right hands landed for Luque. Right-left for Perry scored. Perry dug a hard jab to the nose. Luque ripped a calf kick. The two landed power punches almost at will, with both men eating ridiculous shots. They returned to their corners both sporting bloody faces with five minutes remaining.
Luque opened the third round with some kicks. Perry stuck a hard jab. Luque really committed to the low kicks to good success. Perry landed a left but wasn’t throwing enough. “Platinum” attempted a single takedown, which landed him in the clinch. Perry flipped off the crowd for booing him! Luque scored with a jump knee. Perry attempted a takedown, prompting Luque to jump on a guillotine choke. From inside the choke, Perry punched the mid-section. With 30 seconds remaining, Perry escaped into full guard. He didn’t do a ton, but Perry did finish the fight in top position.
Perry’s nose was absolutely destroyed by that knee in the final minute of the fight. After 15 ultra competitive minutes, the judges awarded the split-decision to Vicente Luque, who has now been half of two of the best fights of the year.
Result: Vicente Luque defeats Mike Perry via split-decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29)
For complete UFC Fight Night 156: “Shevchenko vs. Carmouche 2” results and coverage click HERE.