Vicente Luque

I want challenges to show I'm here to go after the belt.

I respect Khamzat's hype and the way that he's building it. It's his choice and his career. He knows what's best for him. He wants to build it that way, I have no problem with that.

I'm not much of comparing myself to other people. I have my own path.

I understood from the day I decided to be who I am, I knew that would maybe be a longer path because I'm just not a trash talker. I cannot be. It's just not in me.

When I see someone like Woodley fighting a guy like me, if I were him and were to fight strategically, I would at least try takedowns to get me tired and slow my pace on the feet.

Leon Edwards is someone I would really like fighting again.

Leon Edwards has defeated me, and he's a great fighter.

The reason I fight is because I love this sport and I don't want easy fights, to fight in my comfort zone.

Nate has great cardio. The longer the fight goes the better for him, so it's a perfect guy to test me, to see if I can go 10 rounds. I want the challenge, and that motivates me a lot.

I love to fight, I love challenges.

People will want to do that do me, take me down and just hold me there to score a few points round after round.

It's never easy to find opponents that immediately say 'yes' when they're offered a fight with me.

I knew Woodley was a legend, a champ, He really hits hard.

I've got to be motivated. I've got to fight whoever I've got to fight because in my mind and in my heart, I know I am going to get that title fight and I am going to be a UFC champion.

I'm getting good wins, important victories that are taking me where I want to be.

I'm complete everywhere. I'm not bothered to fight on the ground or to stand.

Fighting in front of people that maybe never have seen me fight before is something that motivates me.

I always see every opponent as a tough guy to beat.

A rematch with Niko Price draws a lot of interest from the fans because of our styles, and that also interested me.

I watched a lot of 'Wonderboy' fighting and when I was in there I kind of was a little bit nervous, a little bit excited because I was fighting a guy that had already fought for the title. After that loss, I realize, man, these guys are just like me. They've worked their way up and they are there because they deserve it.

I was kind of pummeling and he was throwing some knees, I was trying to hit him with knees and I was like, 'Man, I'm really fighting Woodley, this is kind of crazy.'

I wanted to fight Masvidal. I think that fight would be a banger. Our styles match up really good.

I'm never going to say 'I'll only fight this guy.' No, I'm ready to fight anyone.

That's something that I like to make sure I don't have any injuries and that I stay not too far from the weight so that in two weeks, I know that two weeks is time enough for me to make 170.

I'm a guy that is always ready, I'm always active, I'm always keeping myself trained and healthy.

It has always been my style to go for the knockout and submission because I am not afraid to take a risk. Sometimes it doesn't work right away so I try the second, then the third. But I always fight forward. That is how it has worked for me.

Fighting is always risk, but I feel the more risk I take, the more reward I'm going to get from that.

You can go to a hospital and the doctors can tell you have something terrible, and you might never fight again. But if you believe, you have faith, you work hard, and do what you're supposed to do, you can turn things around.

From 15 years old starting to train to 17 when I went professional, all that could've gone away in just one fight.

I usually take two weeks off after a fight and then start training again.

The thing is, I'm a really positive guy. And I always try to see the best. Negative thoughts don't even come into my mind. And whenever I feel, like, pressure, for example, pressure is something that motivates me.

A lot of people say I'm hard-headed. And I'm definitely hard-headed.

I wanted to be a professional fighter. I wanted to become a champion one day. And that made me work hard and get to where I am. So in that beginning, maybe that lack of talent kind of cost me a little bit on some fights. But my effort and my dedication overcame that.

I wasn't a super talented fighter, you know? I didn't start off as a talented guy. I just really enjoyed MMA.

It was a big deal for me to enter the UFC with a loss. That was the worst situation in my mind, to finally get to the UFC and then lose it. But you can go one of two ways. You can surrender and say, 'Well, at least I tried and I made it to the UFC,' or you can work even harder.

I was always a persistent guy and I learned from the losses I had.

I started so young, and I was 17 and I didn't plan things out. I had two and three fights and I was accepting fights against guys who had 20, 30, 40 fights. You look back on it and you realize that wasn't the right thing to do, that it's hard to be ready for those kinds of opponents when you're so young and so inexperienced.

Many people talk about fear but do not want to feel it. For me it is about courage. Without fear there is no courage. It shows you are afraid of something but you can overcome that.

I've been grappling since I'm 16 years old so it's not something that I'm afraid of.

I like to fight forward and do not leave it to the judges.

I respect all opponents because they all go through similar things. There's weight cut, every camp is hard and sometimes there are injuries we have to overcome, wins and losses. To me, every opponent is just like me.

It's hard for me to train without giving me my best. It only makes me more competitive.

Let's say we're rolling, I'll try to submit you. If we're sparring, I'll try to dominate, to take you down, to move. I'll always trying to dominate the training session because I think like, 'If this guy is my opponent one day, I want to start dominating him now. I'll show him we're not playing here.'

To me, even in training, I try to do my best and win. In a healthy way, of course, not trying to hurt anyone.

I can take a punch, I'm good and will continue exchanging strikes, but I wasn't developing my ability the way I could on the feet. To dodge, to defend, to move, things I started to pay more attention to.

I was going to war for many years, I was brawling too much.

I'm very calm, and at the same time I always give my 100 percent to MMA.

I think Leon is a very well-rounded fighter, very tough.

My fights tend to go that way, I manage to find an opening and get a submission or a knockout, but I'm going there ready for a long fight.

You can always keep pushing more and you're going to surprise yourself with where you get.