BRASILIA, Brazil -- Hector Urbina will be facing a hostile crowd at Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 95 event in Brasilia, but many people don’t know that Vicente Luque, who represents Brasilia in his MMA fights, wasn’t born in Brazil.
Born on Nov. 27, 1991 in New Jersey, Luque’s journey to the United States involves a connection to Chile. His grandmother worked for Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, so she kept moving to different countries all the time. Her daughter, Maria Aparecida, followed her when she had to move from Brazil to Chile, and that’s where she met Pepe. Luque’s grandmother eventually had to move again from Chile to New Jersey, and they all followed her. A few months later, Luque was born in the United States.
"I can’t express how happy I am that I’m fighting at home and being able to put on a show for the fans that have always supported me," said Luque, who moved to Brasilia when he was 6. "It means the world to me to fight here. Even though I wasn’t born here, I feel I’m a ‘Brasiliense’ because I grew up here, my mother grew up here, and all my friends live here. It’s really like my hometown. I always represent Brasilia when I’m fighting, and it’s going to be even better to fight here."
Living all over the world for so long helped Luque know different lifestyles and languages, and that also benefited his career in combat sports. Luque was a member of the 21st season of The Ultimate Fighter, which featured American Top Team and Blackzilians fighters, and language was never a problem.
"I learned Portuguese, English and Spanish. It was great for me," he said. "My family always forced me to speak in every language. When I lived in the U.S., I spoke Portuguese with my mother and grandmother, Spanish with my father and his family, and English with my friends. When we moved to Brasilia, my mother started teaching English, and she made me speak English with her since I could speak Portuguese with everyone else."
A few months after the UFC reality show, Luque made his official debut in the Octagon and lost a decision to Mike Graves, but the promotion gave him another chance. When Luque tapped Hayder Hassan and Alvaro Herrera in his next bouts, he proved the UFC made a good decision.
Three months after his last win, Luque returns against Urbina at the Nilson Nelson gymnasium, and hopes to keep fighting as much as possible.
"I like to stay active," Luque said. "I haven’t fought earlier this year because I fought four times in 2015, including my TUF bouts, so my body needed some rest. After I took some time off, I can get more fights now. I’d rather stay active instead of wait too much between fights."
Urbina has more wins than Luque has of MMA fights overall, and the Blackzilians fighter knows what he has to pay attention to when they step in the cage in Brasilia.
"Based on what I saw, he’s a well-rounded fighter," Luque said. "He doesn’t try to keep it standing or go to the ground, though. He pretty much accepts to fight where his opponents wants. His best weapon is his ground game, his guillotine. He has some knockouts standing, too, but I think he’s at his best on the ground.
"I’m a striker and today I have a good ground game, too. My game plan for this fight is to keep it standing and put on a show for everybody. Fans prefer a stand-up fight. But the ground is always the plan B and I’m ready to use it if I need it and get a submission."