The UFC continues to stack the deck for their final PPV of 2023. This week, it was announced that the December 16th card will feature two title fights including Leon Edwards – Colby Covington in the main event. Then, we learned that Wonderboy would be fighting Shavkat Rakhmonov and then Paddy Pimblett – Tony Ferguson.
Last night, Dana White announced another big time fight for UFC 296. White announced that surging top welterweight prospect Ian Garry (13-0) would be getting his toughest test to date in the form of Vicente Luque (22-9-1). Originally, Garry wanted to fight Wonderboy, but Thompson opted for the bout against Rakhmonov.
With Wonderboy taking that fight instead, Garry needed an opponent. Enter Vicente Luque. Luque fought last month in a headliner at The APEX against Rafael Dos Anjos and won an impressive decision. That win snapped a two-fight losing steak for Luque. When Luque went through that losing streak, he was close to a title shot having won four in a row. Now, he’ll be tasked with derailing the Garry hype train.
UFC 296
Ian Garry is wanting to make his way up the welterweight division defeating all the top contenders. He doesn’t want to be rushed to a title shot because he doesn’t want the critics saying he avoided all the tough matchups. At UFC 292, he dominated Neil Magny over the course of three rounds.
That win moved him to 6-0 inside the octagon. As mentioned, after the win, he wanted to fight Wonderboy to prove that he’s the best striker in the welterweight division. However, if Wonderboy isn’t an option, Vicente Luque is about as good as it was going to get in terms of opponents for Garry.
This is going to be another big test as Luque has been in there with some over the very best guys in the world. If Garry can dominate Luque at UFC 296 like he’s dominated his other opponents, he might only be a couple of wins away from his title shot.