Vicente Luque believes Rafael dos Anjos is the “perfect fight” for his return at UFC Vegas 78: “I do believe I can finish him”

Vicente Luque needed to make some changes after losing back-to-back fights.

Luque is coming off a knockout loss to Geoff Neal and before that dropped a decision to Belal Muhammad. After his last loss, he suffered a brain hemorrhage which is why he hasn’t fought for over a year.

In the time off, Luque also decided to move to Florida full-time to train at Kill Cliff which he says was a move he needed to do. Before the change, he was only training at Kill Cliff when he had a fight and would then go home to Brazil for the rest of the time.

“I realized at this level, I can not stay the same. I can’t just reach a level where I think I’m good and stay there because everyone else is improving,” Luque said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “In a way, I had to reinvent myself but not go away from what I’m good at. I’m never going to change completely what I am because it has worked. But definitely reinvent a lot of things that I had put to the side and haven’t given a lot of focus on like footwork and head movement.”

After Vicente Luque made the full-time move to Florida and was ready to fight, he wasn’t sure what would be next for him. But, when he was booked to face Rafael dos Anjos in the main event of UFC Vegas 78, he was thrilled.

“Man, that was like the perfect fight. I couldn’t pick a better fight. It was crazy how it happened. At a point when I didn’t have a fight I just wanted to have an idea who I was fighting against. At least have a verbal agreement so I could start focusing on someone,” Luque explained. “Me and Ali were talking about who I was going to get next and looking at the division. I am coming off two losses but I’m still in the top 10 in the UFC. So I want to move forward and get into the mix and into the top part of the division. I wanted a fight that would move me up and we weren’t sure who it would be. Then, Ali called me and said Rafael dos Anjos.”

Although Vicente Luque says Rafael dos Anjos is the perfect fight for him, he knows his UFC Vegas 78 scrap won’t be easy.

However, Luque is confident that he has gotten much better and believes he will get a stoppage win over dos Anjos.

“It’s hard to tell, I’ve been trying to predict things and I never get it right. When I’m in there, I’m never really trying to finish my opponent. But, whenever I see an opportunity I go for it,” Luque said. “In a five-round fight that presents itself many times. I will go after it and if he can withstand it, then it will be a long fight. Knowing RDA’s durability and his experience, it won’t be an easy fight, but I do believe I can finish him. I do believe I have the skills to finish him whether it’s on the ground or in striking.”

Should Vicente Luque finish Rafael dos Anjos, he knows it’s a massive win that puts him back into contention at welterweight.

“A win over him is going to put me back in the mix… It is a great moment for me to get a big win and get back into the mix. Get back into the talks of guys who could soon be fighting for the title,” Luque said.