Vicente Luque picked up arguably the biggest win of his career Saturday night.
The welterweight contender submitted former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley in the first round of their short, but wild fight. Luque (20-7-1 MMA, 13-3 UFC) tapped out Woodley (19-7-1 MMA, 9-6-1 UFC) with a D’Arce choke at the 3:56 mark of the first round.
The welterweight bout was the UFC 260 co-main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. It aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.
Woodley started aggressive with a big overhand right and pressed Luque against the cage. But Luque reversed the position and pressed the former champion. Shortly after, they broke the clinch and got back in striking range. Then things got wild.
Woodley threw big punches, one of which connected and wobbled Luque. But the Brazilian stayed composed and started to connect, himself. Luque dropped Woodley and looked for the finish. Looking to survive, Woodley shot for a takedown. But Luque locked up a D’Arce choke and finished the fight.
Luque wasted no time and called out Nate Diaz in his post-fight interview. He is on a three-fight winnings streak and 9-1 in his past 10 bouts.
Woodley lost for the fourth straight time. The last time Woodley got his hand raised inside the octagon was in 2018 when he defended his welterweight title against Darren Till. Before the loss to Luque, Woodley lost his title to current champ Kamaru Usman, Gilbert Burns and former interim champ Colby Covington.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 260 results include:
- Vicente Luque def. Tyron Woodley via submission (D’Arce choke) – Round 1, 3:56
- Sean O’Malley def. Thomas Almeida via knockout (punch) – Round 3, 3:52
- Miranda Maverick def. Gillian Robertson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Jamie Mullarkey def. Khama Worthy via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 0:46
- Alonzo Menifield def. Fabio Cherant via submission (Von Flue choke) – Round 1, 1:11
- Abubakar Nurmagomedov def. Jared Gooden via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Michal Oleksiejczuk def. Modestas Bukauskas via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Omar Morales def. Shane Young via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Marc-Andre Barriault def. Abu Azaitar via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 4:56
