Just when Vicente Luque looked like he was in trouble, he wasn’t – and then he won.
In a pivotal welterweight contenders fight, Luque (21-7-1 MMA, 14-3 UFC) submitted Michael Chiesa (17-5 MMA, 11-5 UFC) with a D’Arce choke at the 3:25 mark of Round 1.
The bout was part of the UFC 265 main card at Toyota Center in Houston. It aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN2 and ESPN+.
After a couple exchanges on the feet, Chiesa shot for a takedown early in Round 1, which he got. From there, he quickly hopped to Luque’s back and worked for a rear-naked choke.
From there, the crafty grappling American went for a crank, but then switched to a choke. While Chiesa’s hands were locked, Luque wriggled away from the body lock and escaped. As Chiesa scrambled, Luque grabbed hold of his neck. Chiesa fell immediately into the D’Arce choke, one of Luque’s signature submissions. From there, Luque torqued and got the tap.
After the fight, Luque expressed interest in a fight against UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman. The two fighters were teammates on Season 21 of “The Ultimate Fighter” and have trained together.
Shortly after the win, Usman (19-1 MMA, 14-0 UFC) responded on Twitter and revealed the interest is mutual.
With the win, Luque extends his winning streak to four, which also includes stoppage victories over Niko Price, Randy Brown and former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley. In his 11 most recent appearances, Luque has accumulated 10 victories.
As for Chiesa, the loss snaps a four-fight winning streak and marks his first defeat since he moved to welterweight in July 2018. Four of his five promotional defeats have come by submission. Prior to Saturday, Chiesa’s previous defeat was a loss to Anthony Pettis at UFC 226.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 265 results include:
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Vicente Luque def. Michael Chiesa via submission (D’Arce choke) – Round 1, 3:25
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Tecia Torres def. Angela Hill via unanimous decision decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
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Song Yadong def. Casey Kenney via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
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Rafael Fiziev def. Bobby Green via unanimous decision decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)
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Vince Morales def. Drako Rodriguez via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
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Alonzo Menifield def. Ed Herman via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
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Jessica Penne def. Karolina Kowalkiewicz via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 4:32
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Manel Kape def. Ode Osbourne via knockout (knee) – Round 1, 4:44
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Miles Johns def. Anderson Dos Santos via knockout (punch) – Round 3, 1:16
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Melissa Gatto def. Victoria Leonardo via TKO (doctor’s stoppage) – Round 2, 5:00
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Johnny Munoz def. Jamey Simmons via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 2:35