No. 5 ranked welterweight Michael Chiesa is less than a week away from arguably the most important fight of his career.
At UFC 265, the ‘Maverick’ is slated to face off against no. 6 ranked welterweight Vicente Luque.
Speaking on former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping’s podcast “Believe You Me”, Chiesa said Luque is the diciest matchup he has had in his career.
“I think Vicente Luque, bar none, hands down’s the most dangerous guy that I’ve been matched up with to date,” Chiesa said on Bisping’s podcast. “This is a guy that’s won nine of his last 10 with eight finishes. He rattles off these performance bonuses all the time. Really dangerous, he’s got good power in his hands, he’s very disciplined with his stand up. You don’t see him make a lot of mistakes.”
Chiesa was adamant that he cannot make any errors if he wants to walk away victorious from his fight with Luque Saturday.
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“I think that this is the most dangerous guy I’ve faced to date. I can’t make a single tactical error in this fight if I want to win,” Chiesa said. “I have to be on point. I cannot make a mistake because this is a guy that, when you watch film on him, guys will have great fights against them until they make one small minor error and then it changes the whole momentum of the fight.
“He’s from a good camp. I know he’s been training in Brazil a lot but he’s been a staple at Stanford MMA for a long time. He’s a very tough guy, I think the world of him. He’s a good competitor, he’s a family man, and he’s dangerous as f–k for lack of better words. But I’m really excited for the opportunity.”
With a victory Saturday, either Chiesa or Luque could arguably be one fight away from a welterweight title shot.
