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Just three fights in the UFC 249 event, it looks like sports have officially returned to action. The preliminary part of the undercard on Saturday night began with a welterweight clash between Niko Price and Vicente Luque that had the potential to be a Fight of the Night contender. Fight of the year before Luque’s hook left enough damage in Price’s eye to force the doctor to stop the fight at the end of Round 3.
Luque (18-7-1) and Price (14-4) wasted little time getting to work, with both men throwing heavy punches. While Luque found success early with kicking his legs, Price’s right hand constantly landed. However, a first-round right hand from Luque began to increase the swelling on Price’s face, and that predicted bigger problems later in the fight.
Wild exchanges would continue in rounds 2 and 3 with the swelling increasing for Price as he continued to throw heavy blows to Luque’s head. At the end of the third round, a perfect left hand from Luque sent Price stumbling back and onto the ground. After Luque followed him to the mat, he got up and welcomed the fight.
But the damage was already done since Price’s eye was closed from the swelling. As Price could not see, the doctor informed the referee that the fight should stop and the competition was suspended at the 3:37 mark in Round 3.
With the win, Luque recovers from a loss to Stephen Thompson on his previous outing. He is now 7-2 since 2017 and 11-3 since joining the UFC.
“I definitely think that I have improved since my last fight and that I am still here. I am still here to be relevant and lift that division and eventually fight for that title. I still have a lot to improve, I am 28 years old, I am excited about this and I am excited by how much do I have to improve, “Luque said after the fight. “I couldn’t show everything that I’ve improved because Niko is an uncomfortable guy and he went in hard and tried to get me out and brought up different situations, but at the same time I was happy with my performance. And considering how everything went to this camp, he was not the ideal camp with everything that was going on, but I feel good and had fun there. “
Price was coming from a Knockout of the Year 2019 contender, a James Vick shipment with a boost in October. He is 6-4 in his 10 most recent fights.
For full results, highlights, and analysis of the action on Saturday night, be sure to check out the CBS Sports UFC 249 live blog.
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