Vicente Luque expecting a “dangerous” Tyron Woodley, but expects to finish him at UFC 260

Vicente Luque is eager to share the Octagon with Tyron Woodley.

On the main card of this Saturday’s UFC 260 pay-per-view, Luque is set to face another top-10 opponent as he looks to climb the welterweight ranks. After he came up short against Stephen Thompson, he rallied off back-to-back wins over Niko Price and Randy Brown, and after his last win over Brown, Luque thought the Woodley fight made sense.

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“I felt it could be an option, I was looking for somebody in the top-10 and a lot of guys had fights already,” Luque said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “I was thinking maybe Demian Maia, but Woodley was a good option. There weren’t many options and I wanted someone in the top-10 so it made sense for me to fight Woodley. It is also an awesome fight, it is a guy who was the champion, he was a great champion. I definitely think it is a tough fight. But, it’s a good fight to put in a good spot in the division.”

Entering the fight, Woodley is on a three-fight losing streak and has been dominated in all three of those fights. Luque believes the former champion is fighting for his job which makes him that much more dangerous.

“I think that makes him more dangerous. It makes him want to prove that he is still the same guy who was the champion and is the old Woodley who has the big right hand and is aggressive and confident and imposes his will. That is what I am expecting,” Luque said. “I am ready for the best Woodley ever. I can’t underestimate a guy like that. If it is not the best Woodley, that is not for me to care about, I need to do my job and get this big win.”

Even though Woodley has struggled to pull the trigger in his recent fights, Luque doesn’t believe that will be the case.

Instead, for Vicente Luque, he believes the three rounds will make for an aggressive Woodley. However, the Brazilian is confident his pace and pressure will frustrate the former champ. If it does, Luque believes it could result in another stoppage win for him.

“I’m also preparing for a much more aggressive Woodley. In his last couple of fights, he has been going for five rounds,” Vicente Luque said. “I think everyone holds a little bit back in the first two rounds. But, in a three-round fight, I think he will open up and that is what I’m ready for. It is kind of my style. I go right in there and do what I got to do and get to the action quickly. It will be a high-paced fight. If he can handle the pressure it will go the distance but I am looking to finish him.”

If Luque does get his hand raised on Saturday night and does so by stoppage, he believes it will be the statement win he needs to put the division on notice. He knows he’d be in a good position to call someone out and make a run up the welterweight ranks.

“It is the kind of opponent that I prove to people that I can beat guys in the top-five, top-three, and eventually the champion,” Luque concluded. “I need to make a statement in this fight. Just show people what kind of fighter I am and hang with the big dogs.”

Do you think Vicente Luque will beat Tyron Woodley at UFC 260?