UFC Vegas 51: Luque vs Muhammad 2
Former UFC double champion Henry Cejudo came out in defense of Belal Muhammad, after the latter was subjected to criticism from the MMA community for his wrestling heavy decision victory
Belal Muhammad and Vicente Luque clashed at the UFC Vegas 51 main event at the Apex Centre in Las Vegas. This was their rematch after their first encounter at UFC 205, when Luque knocked out Belal in the first round.
Muhammad showed the world the improvements he has made in his game and the development he’s had as a martial artist since his loss at UFC 205. Muhammad has been on a roll and won a unanimous decision over the #5 ranked, Vicente Luque.
The fight began with Luque immediately taking the center of the octagon trying to establish octagon control, and overwhelm Belal with his striking reminiscent of what transpired at UFC 205. However, Muhammad had levelled up since then and came in completely aware of the threat his opponent posed. Belal used a lot of lateral movements when his back was against the cage, which did not give the Brazilian any opportunity to settle and land his usual combinations.
What Muhammad also did efficiently in the first two rounds was move laterally, and just when Luque would expect him to be on the other end of the oscillation trajectory, Belal would pop in and hit him with a stiff jab or crisp 1-2 of the middle, And when Luque started to measure this sequence, and started plotting his counter, Belal would tower in with a raging bull takedown and put Luque on his back.
Belal won the first two rounds comfortably, but Luque came back strong in the third round, stuffing takedown attempts. The biggest movement for him came in the third round came when his cornerman made a read of Belal’s lateral movement that exposed him to loopy shots from the wide, and Luque hit him with a strong hook that wobbled him. However, Belal maintained his composure and sailed through the round without sustaining serious damage.
It was 29-28 going into the championship rounds, but Belal looked like the fighter who wanted the fight more, and pushed extra hard to get his hand raised. Before the fight, Luque had been taken down a maximum of three times in a fight, but Belal took him down a total of 6 times with great takedown accuracy. In the end, it was Muhammad who got his hand raised owing to a unanimous decision victory.
Former UFC double champion Henry Cejudo lashed out at fans who suggested that Belal Muhammad made the fight boring with his wrestling heavy approach. In his previous fights, Muhammad scored a similar victory via decision, although he had tremendous back control statistics. Fans criticized Belal for not having a killer approach and going for the finish.
A former gold medalist in wrestling himself, Cejudo quickly backed Muhammad by reminding people how difficult and fatiguing it is to wrestle for 25 minutes. It saps the gas tank to drill a single takedown, let alone a series of them, especially when you fight someone with excellent takedown defense like Luque.
Cejudo wrote on Twitter, ‘ Y’all saying “bOriNg” have no idea how hard it is to grapple for 25 minutes. Shit is exhausting. Props for bouncing back @bullyb170! #UFCVegas51‘
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