Vicente Luque "looked slow" in rematch with Belal Muhammad, says Josh Thomson

Vicente Luque had his four-fight win streak snapped on Saturday, courtesy of a unanimous decision defeat by Belal Muhammad in their welterweight bout. Former UFC lightweight fighter Josh Thomson has suggested that the 170-pound KO artist didn’t look like his usual self in the fight.

In their first encounter, Luque stopped Muhammad via first-round KO at UFC 205 in November 2016. Their rematch headlined the UFC on ESPN: Luque vs. Muhammad 2 fight card on April 16. While many expected that Luque’s incredible striking skills and terrifying knockout power would move him to 2-0 against Muhammad, that wasn't the case.

Luque was out-grappled and outworked by ‘Remember the Name’ in their five-round showdown. In an edition of the Weighing In Podcast, Josh Thomson indicated that Luque’s lack of takedown defense played a significant role on the judges' scorecards.

'The Punk' highlighted that Vicente Luque looked much slower in his previous fights. Speaking to podcast co-host John McCarthy, Josh Thomson stated:

“John, what was very evident to me right off the bat was that Luque looked slow. He’s tight with his technique, and he throws the short left hook. It’s so good.”

Additionally, Josh Thomson then alluded to the fact that good footwork helps a fighter better defend takedowns. He continued:

“Luque didn’t have that. What I’m thinking like, ‘Right, this guy trains with Gilbert Burns, trained with the [UFC welterweight] champ [Kamaru] Usman for a while.’ He didn’t seem like he had much takedown defense. And I’ve seen him fight. I know he does! I know he does! But he just didn’t look; his legs were closer together. It was like he didn’t realize the takedown was gonna come.”

Watch Josh Thomson weigh in on Vicente Luque’s loss to Belal Muhammad in the video below:

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Belal Muhammad expresses his respect for Vicente Luque

During the post-fight press conference after his win over Vicente Luque, Belal Muhammad opened up about being unable to stop ‘The Silent Assassin'. Lauding Luque for his toughness, Muhammad said:

“It was going to take everything we had [to beat him]. And I felt like it worked out just the way that we thought it was. I thought he would; there’d be a point where I’ll be able to catch him with a submission or fully take his back or anything like that, but he had no break in him.”

Muhammad is currently open to fights against Leon Edwards, Khamzat Chimaev, and particularly Colby Covington. Meanwhile, it’s unclear as to who Luque’s targeting for his next octagon outing.