Vicente Luque vs. Nate Diaz is a foregone conclusion in the ranked UFC contender’s mind.
Vicente Luque is trying to manifest a fight with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) superstar Nate Diaz.
Luque (No. 4) has been calling for a fight with Diaz for months and now he is training like the fight is a reality. In a new interview, Luque persisted that a Diaz fight is a top priority for the welterweight contender.
“If it’s up to me, it’s happening. I’m already training with that mindset,” Luque recently told MMAFighting.com’s Guilherme Cruz. “l’ll be ready for December. The UFC knows I’m interested, that I’m in. Nate seems to be in as well, at least he said that on Twitter, so, to me, it’s a deal. Just give me the date, I’m already training for it. I’ll be prepared.
“I love to fight, I love challenges. I’ve never fought five rounds before, but if I have to go 10 rounds right away, that’s even better. It would be a bigger challenge, and against a guy that I know has plenty of cardio. Nate has great cardio. The longer the fight goes the better for him, so it’s a perfect guy to test me, to see if I can go 10 rounds. I want the challenge, and that motivates me a lot.”
Luque (21-7-1) is as close to a UFC Welterweight title shot as he has ever been with consecutive finishes of Michael Chiesa (watch highlights), Tyron Woodley, Randy Brown and Niko Price.
Diaz (20-13) is 2-3 in his last five fights dating back to 2016. He suffered losses to Leon Edwards and Jorge Masvidal, beat Anthony Pettis and went 1-1 in his series with Conor McGregor.
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