Vicente Luque (photo via UFC / YouTube)

By FCF Staff

Although Vicente Luque had won six straight fights prior to UFC 244, after losing to Stephen Thompson at the event, the welterweight’s taking some time off.

Luque faced Thompson at the November 2nd card, and was outstruck by the noted kickboxer en route to a decision loss. The bout marked the first time since March, 2017 that Luque had been defeated.

While speaking with MMA Fighting since the defeat, Luque reported the following:

“I have to take some time off to rest, some time with no training at all,” Luque said. “I had an intense year with a lot of training camps and weight cuts. I have to work on evolution when I get back to training, and evolution takes time. If I get one fight after the other, I won’t evolve, and maybe I’ll come back as the same Vicente that fought (at UFC 244). That Vicente can beat some fighters, but clearly gave openings to a top guy like Thompson.

“I want to be ready to fight someone like him when I come back, so I think I have to take some time off now to evolve and work on the mistakes I had. I had four fights this year, so I basically was in camp whole year. I had no time to evolve – just focus on my opponent and my weight cut. I think now is the time to work on that.”

With the defeat, the 27-year-old Luque’s record fell to 17-7-1. Thompson improved his to 15-4-1.