Vicente Luque will replace Sean Brady, who is recovering from an injury, to fight Joaquin Buckley in the co-main event of UFC Atlantic City on March 30.
Well, well, well. The plot thickens. Vicente Luque’s got a new dance partner. He’s squaring off against Joaquin Buckley. And where’s this showdown happening? UFC Atlantic City. The date? March 30. This isn’t hearsay, folks. Multiple insiders spilled the beans to MMA Fighting.
Now, you might be thinking, “Wait a minute, wasn’t Luque supposed to fight Sean Brady?” You’re not wrong. UFC’s big boss, Dana White, did announce that. The match was set to take place at the Boardwalk Hall. But here’s the kicker: it was never a sure thing. Brady was still on the mend from an injury. So, the welterweight match was more of a “maybe” than a “definitely.”
This isn’t Luque’s first rodeo with fight cancellations. In fact, it’s his third go-around. He’s had back-to-back matches fall through. Remember the Ian Machado Garry fight at UFC 296 on Dec. 16? Yeah, that didn’t happen. Garry had to pull out due to illness. The last time we saw Luque in the octagon was in August. He took down Rafael dos Anjos in a five-round main event.
Enter Buckley. This guy’s on a roll, winning two straight against Andre Fialho and Alex Morono in 2023. At 29, he’s stepping into the biggest fight of his career. His UFC record? Seven wins out of 11 fights. Five of those were knockouts. And he’s got four performance bonuses to boot.
Oh, and let’s not forget the main event at UFC Atlantic City. It’s a flyweight face-off between Erin Blanchfield and Manon Fiorot.
Big shoutout to Mike Heck and Damon Martin. They helped put this report together.