The Vicente Luque vs. Belal Muhammad II card went down Saturday night in Las Vegas, and while the event was decidedly lacking in terms of big names, it still opened the door to some interesting matchups.
The card was headlined by a clash of welterweight contenders, as the No. 6-ranked Belal Muhammad took on No. 5-ranked Vicente Luque. The bout was a rematch of a 2016 fight that Luque won by first-round knockout. The second time around, Muhammad evened the score, outwrestling his Brazilian foe to an impressive unanimous-decision triumph.
Beyond the main event, one of the biggest winners of the night was Portuguese welterweight Andre Fialho, who picked up a career-changing knockout win over the dangerous Miguel Baeza in the first round.
American light heavyweight contender Devin Clark also picked up a nice win, knocking out the ridiculously powerful William Knight in Round 3. So too did Clark’s countryman Drakkar Klose, who returned from a two-year layoff to knock out Brandon Jenkins in Round 2 at lightweight.
Keep reading for the fights we’re hoping to see.
Belal Muhammad vs. Gilbert Burns
Vicente Luque vs. Geoff Neal
Andre Fialho vs. Daniel Rodriguez
Belal Muhammad wasn’t the only welterweight to score a career-changing victory. Earlier on the broadcast, Portugal’s Andre Fialho picked up one of his best wins to date, knocking out the dangerous Miguel Baeza.
The win separated the 28-year-old Sanford MMA product from a decision loss to human-highlight reel Michel Pereira, and it should set him up for another big opportunity at 170 pounds.
Our pick for his next opponent is Daniel Rodriguez, who has become of the most delightful welterweight fighters to watch over the last few years.
Rodriguez, 35, is riding a trio of victories over “Platinum” Mike Perry, Preston Parsons and Kevin Lee.
Like Fialho, he’s trying to set himself up for a fight with a top-15 opponent. Pit them against each other to see who’s really ready for that opportunity.
Devin Clark vs. Khalil Rountree
Drakkar Klose vs. Jim Miller
Drakkar Klose scored an impressive second-round stoppage win over Brandon Jenkins, and his performance was made all the sweeter by the circumstances.
Klose had been out of action for over two years. Much of that layoff was thanks to the grievous injuries he suffered after he was senselessly shoved by his would-be opponent Jeremy Stephens in 2021. We’ve already shared our thoughts on the 35-year-old toddler Stephens, so we’ll leave it at that for now.
The point is that Klose is back in the win column after a period of tremendous adversity, and he deserves a nice opportunity next time out.
Our pick is a fight with ageless wonder Jim Miller, who, despite being one of the most experienced fighters in UFC history, is still fighting and winning in 2022—at 38 years old!
It makes sense as far as the lightweight hierarchy is concerned, and it would probably be a lot of fun to watch.
Source: Bleacher Report
