In the featured matchup of UFC Rio tomorrow night, we are going to see a fight that I’m scratching my head over in terms of the match making. Brazil’s Vicente Luque (23-11-1) will be welcoming Joel Alvarez (22-3) to the welterweight division.
Starting with Alvarez, he makes the move up to 170 after struggling for years to make 155 pounds. Alvarez was a massive lightweight and he’s still very big for 170 pounds. I mean the man is 6’3 and he missed weight twice at lightweight.
Since June 2019, Alvarez is 7-1 with the lone loss coming against top lightweight contender Arman Tsarukyan. Since that loss to Tsarukyan, Alvarez has won three fights in a row all by finish. Now, he’ll be making his welterweight debut against Vicente Luque.
It would likely shock most to find out that Vicente Luque is only 33-years-old. In fighting years, the man feels like he’s in his 40s with the amount of wars that he’s been through. He’ll make the walk tomorrow night coming off a submission loss to Kevin Holland back in June. Overall, Luque is 2-4 in his last six leading up to UFC Rio.
UFC Rio Prediction
I really don’t like this matchup for Vicente Luque and I’m struggling to figure out where he’ll have the advantage. I don’t see him having the striking advantage over Alvarez and I also don’t expect him to be able to take Alvarez down and control him like Arman Tsarukyan was able to do.
I’m also worried about Luque’s ability to take punishment and I think you’ll see him take some big shots from Alvarez in this one. Ultimately, I think that Alvarez is going to rock Luque on the feet before submitting him. It’ll be a big performance for Alvarez as he announces his presence in the UFC’s welterweight division.
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