UFC Uruguay: Vicente Luque Reflects on Learning He’d Obliterated Mike Perry’s Nose

Mike Perry and Vicent Luque went to war last night at UFC Uruguay – as many predicted they would – and afterward, the latter had some interesting reflections on the bloody battle.

Luque emerged with a split decision win

Perry was looking worse for wear earlier on in the co-main event, but “Platinum” kept coming throughout the fight and he scored with plenty of big shots of his own. In fact, after three rounds, Perry had landed 87 significant strikes to Luque’s 84, and he outscored the welterweight in total by a 116 t0 85 margin.

But, two of the judge’s awarded the fight to Luque, and in doing so, they extended his winning streak to six.

“The Silent Assasin” reflects on the action-packed bout

What might have delivered Luque the fight, in two of the judges’ eyes, was the damage he inflicted. Not only did he cut Perry by both of his eyes, he flattened “Platinum’s” nose with a well-timed knee. While talking to ESPN afterward, Luque had this to say about a late, guillotine choke he worked, and when he realized he had destroyed Perry’s nose (quotes via MMA Junkie):

“The guillotine was 80-85 percent, so a guy like him, I knew it wasn’t going to finish,” Luque said. “He got me down, I didn’t want to capitalize and let him do anything, so I’m going to hold this as much as I can. When I saw there was about 15-20 seconds left, I said, ‘OK, let me let go.’

“I was ready for him to unload. When he did not unload, I knew something was wrong. So, I thought, ‘Oh, maybe he got hurt or something.’ So then once we got the fight finished, I saw his nose and was like, ‘OK, that’s what happened.’”

“I think he went in there and gave it all,” Luque said. “I knew it was going to be a fight like that. I didn’t want to get as hit as I did. But overall, I think I went in there, put on my gameplan, tried to mix it up. I didn’t want to only hit his head – hit his body, hit his legs.”

Perry may have taken the loss, but it was a memorable and impressive performance for him nonetheless. Luque has a ton of momentum behind him right now, and he’s certainly demonstrated how dangerous and resilient he can be.

Now it will be interesting to see what comes next for the 27-year-old. Luque has called for a top ten opponent next. He might get it.