Vicente Luque: ‘I Had To Knock’ Bryan Barberena Out

Sure, Vicente Luque enjoyed his incredible back-and-forth battle with Bryan Barberena Sunday night at UFC on ESPN 1.

But Luque enjoyed the thrill of victory even more.

Following two-plus rounds of action that had everyone pushing the bout into the “Fight of the Year” category, Luque landed with a knee and finished Barberena.

“I didn’t want to leave it to the judges,” he said. “He was a tough guy. I tried the rear-naked choke and D’arce and he got out of them both so I knew I had to knock him out.

“So I got those knees in and got it done.”

Luque and Barberena combined for 332 significant strikes, placing them second all-time behind only Donald Cerrone and Nate Diaz at UFC 141 and their 334 in a three-round fight.

The win moved Luque to 15-6-1 overall, with finishes in each of his last four fights.

Check out a complete recap of UFC Phoenix on FightLine.

"I didn’t want to leave it to the judges. He was a tough guy, I tried the rear naked choke and darce and he got out of them both so I knew I had to knock him out, so I got those knees in and got it done." ~@VicenteLuqueMMA #UFCPhoenix pic.twitter.com/TEtlW1OwSm

— UFC News (@UFCNews) February 18, 2019