UFC Atlantic City continues on the main card with the co-main event fight in the welterweight division between Vicente Luque and Joaquin Buckley. After losing two straight Luque was able to get back into the win column in his last fight meanwhile, Buckley has now won two straight since moving down in weight to the welterweight division. With that said, check out our UFC odds series for our Luque-Buckley prediction and pick.
Vicente (17-6) came back after an absence due to a medical scare with a brain bleed after the Geoff Neal fight and put on a great performance dominating Rafael Dos Anjos for the majority of their main event fight. When he takes on the surging Joaquin Buckley this weekend, Luque will look to get back into the thick of things in the welterweight division.
Joaquin Buckley (17-6) had mixed results during his time at middleweight but after two consecutive losses, he decided to drop down to welterweight where he has now won back-to-back fights. After the fight between Vicente Luque and Sean Brady fell through, Buckley stepped up on about a month's notice in an attempt to crack the top 15 in the welterweight rankings when he steps inside the Octagon this weekend at UFC Atlantic City.
Here are the UFC Odds, courtesy of BetOnline.
UFC Atlantic City Odds: Vicente Luque-Joaquin Buckley Odds
Vicente Luque: -122
Joaquin Buckley: +102
Over 2.5 rounds: +132
Under 2.5 rounds: -162
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Why Vicente Luque Will Win
Vicente Luque had a medical scare after taking a beating against Geoff Neal back in 2022 as it was revealed that he suffered bleeding in his brain that doctors didn't know if he would be able to fight again. He subsequently took time off, got surgery, and recovered back to health to get right back to training. He then was able to put on a great performance in his first fight since that and did a great job at neutralizing everything that Rafael Dos Anjos was throwing his way. Now, after canceled fights with Ian Garry and Sean Brady, Luque is set to take on Joaquin Buckley in this weekend's co-main event at UFC Atlantic City.
In Luque's last couple of fights, it may have looked like he lost a step but that is further from the truth. He is still as dangerous as he was when he was riding his four-fight winning streak in 2020-2021. Luque gets to take on the surging Joaquin Buckley who's coming in with a full head of steam. Buckley is going to bring explosiveness and powerful strikes to combat Luque in this matchup. It will be up to Luque to utilize his calf kicks, his counters, and his grappling to slow down the aggression and speed of Buckley. We've seen Buckley get hurt on numerous occasions in his career and even get out grappled so as long as Luque just doesn't let Buckley dictate the pace of this fight he can get the job done and continue on his winning ways.
Why Joaquin Buckley Will Win
Joaquin Buckley had an up-and-down UFC career at middleweight and thought it was time to finally make the transition to welterweight as many believed should've been done a while ago. It has been going quite well for him as he picked up back-to-back wins in his new weight class but now he taking on his stiffest competition and his first ranked competition at 170 lbs when he takes on Vicente Luque this weekend at UFC Atlantic City.
Buckley brings some excitement to the welterweight division. He has exceptional speed and power that is hard to combat against. Also, the way he explodes when he throws everything makes him exceptionally dangerous if he catches his opponent much like he did to Andre Fialho in his first in the welterweight division. However, this will not be an easy fight by any stretch like his two fights against Alex Morono and Andre Fialho were. He is going to need to be more methodical and have precision in his strikes rather than just explode into everything he throws. If Buckley can tune it down a bit but use his speed and movement to keep on the outside of Luque he can extend his winning streak to three by outclassing him at range.
Final Vicente Luque-Joaquin Buckley Prediction & Pick
This should be a great co-main event to segway into our women's flyweight main event. Vicente Luque and Joaquin Buckley are going to be a clash between two fighters who aren't going to give each other an inch and are going to just meet each other head-on. Ultimately, while Luque may not be seen as in his best form in his recent fights, he still has the tools needed to get past someone like Buckley who is just pure speed and power by just countering on the outside and mixing in the takedowns and either get the submission in transition or he just beats up Buckley for the entirety of the fight for a decision victory.
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Final Vicente Luque-Joaquin Buckley Prediction & Pick: Vicente Luque (-122), Over 2.5 Rounds (+132)
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