No. 10 ranked UFC welterweight Vicente Luque, whose career was jeopardized by a brain hemorrhage following a knockout loss to Jeff Neal, made a successful return to the octagon a year later with a win over former UFC lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos.
The bout, which headlined the UFC on ESPN 51 event in Las Vegas, went the full distance, with the judges’ five-round unanimous decision scores of 49-46 and 48-47 twice favoring Luka, who gained an advantage over his opponent by controlling near the net and landing eight takedowns.
In his post-fight interview, Vicente Luque admitted that he used uncharacteristic tactics because he was afraid of missing a punch to the head after serious health problems.
“I’m a cold-blooded guy, but right now I’m very emotional,” the fighter stated. “It’s already a miracle for me to be here. I was never afraid of anything, but I had a fear that I would never be able to do it again. But I was allowed to fight, I came back and worked my hardest. I was stronger than ever.”
In the second main event of the tournament, UFC veteran Cub Swanson defeated Hakeem Davoda by unanimous decision.
Khalil Rountree, Yasmin Lucindo, Marcus McGee, Terrence McKinney, Isaac Dulgarian, Martin Budaj, Jacqueline Amorim, Luana Santos and DaMon Blackshear all picked up early wins, with the latter finishing his opponent Jose Johnson with a rare twister.
All results from UFC on ESPN 51.
Source: https://fighttime.ru/news/item/32347-rezultaty-ufc-on-espn-51-visente-luke-pobedil-rafaelya-dos-anosa.html?rand=19907
