Vicent Luque brought a highly entertaining slugfest with Bryan Barberena to a thrilling TKO conclusion just six seconds before the end of the fight tonight at UFC On ESPN 1.
Round One:
Luque with a right hand and then a left, but Barberena lands a counter right. Right hand for Luque. Another solid right for him.
leg kick for Barberena. Punches to the head from Luque. Leg kick for him. Jab from Barberena. Right hook for Luque. He follows up with more lefts and rights against the cage. Barberena hangs in there though.
Luque stalking him and lands more bombs but Barberena somehow takes them. He’s got a great chin and he’s still looking to land too.
More power shots for Luque in the center of the Octagon now. Can Barberena take this for much longer? He’s getting clobered again and still looking none the worse for wear.
Suddenly Barberena lands a big punch and Luque falls to the mat! Big turnaround here and Barberena follows him down looking for more offense. However, there’s still plenty of fight in Luque and he manages to scramble, take Barbarena’s back and sink in a rear-naked choke.
It looks tight and he works hard on it for quite some time, but Barberena refuses to tap. He escapes the hold, but Luque transitions to a d’arce choke instead.
Barberena gets out of that towards the end of the round however and then rains down a series of big elbows.
Round Two:
Barberena throwing hands to start and lands a good uppercut in there. Right hand gets through for Barberena. Now Luque firing back as Barberena tries to tee off.
Punches down the pipe from Barberena, backing Luque down. Luque covers up though and stays in there. Right hand for Luque. Body kick for Luque.
Punches upstairs for Barberena and then lands to the body. Solid jab from Barberena. Now a one-two. Luque with a high guard here.
Punches for Barberena and then a left hook from Luque in return. Now he connects with a right.
Barberena not with the same power as Luque, but offering up a high volume of strikes at the moment. Big left hand for Barberena. High kick for Luque is blocked. He goes to the leg kick now.
Jab for Barberena. Now to the body. Luque covers up then throws a counter. Luque with a series of strikes. two punches connect. Now a left hook. Remarkable durability from Barberena.
In close now Luque lands a knee and that finally puts Barberena down to his knees. Luque blasts him with a series of hooks as he’s down there, but he’s still in there and makes it to the end of the round.
Round three:
Leg kick for Luque. Barberena throwing heavy leather again. Hard punch for Luque. Head kick from Barberena is blocked. Kick for Luque lands.
Knee to the body from Barberena. Left hand for Barberena. He wades into the clinch with punches. Luque shrugs him off. Left hand from Barberena and then a bigger one in return from Luque. Barberena responds with a flurry though.
Body punch from Barberena. Now a series of short, light punches from Barberena to stay busy. Luque with a big knee upstairs that’s only just short of connecting hard.
Light shots against from Barberena to the head and body. Luque eats a jab as he steps in. Now another hard jab for Barberena.
Body kick for Luque. Both trying to stay busy with punches even if there’s not as much sting behind them as the earlier action.
Final minute. Right hand for Luque. Body kick for Barberena. Barberena with a light flurry. Luque lands heavier blows in response, turning up the heat in the final moments.
Luque steps forward to land more and lands another big right hook and then two thunderous knees to the chin finally send Barberena falling forward onto the mat!
Luque seizes the moment and lands big punches to his fallen foe, sending his mouthpiece flying before the referee steps in to end the fight!
Apparently more strikes were landed during this war than any other three round welterweight fight in UFC history!
