LAS VEGAS -- In addition to being one of the nicest guys in mixed martial arts, Vicente Luque remains one of its most underrated. He submitted Themba Gorimbo Saturday just 52 seconds into the first round of their bout on the ESPN portion of the UFC 310 preliminaries at T-Mobile Arena.
Gorimbo entered Saturday's bout having won four in a row and was building plenty of momentum in the division. He ran into Luque Saturday and the hype train came to a speeding halt. Luque is 16-6 in his nine-year career after disposing of Gorimbo in brutally efficient manner. He landed a short right hand that hurt Gorimbo and quickly transitioned into an anaconda choke.
Gorimbo went out and the fight was stopped by referee Mark Smith just 52 seconds into it.
Five of Luque's six UFC defeats have come to the best of the best. He's been defeated by Joaquin Buckley, Geoff Neal, Belal Muhammad, Stephen Thompson, Leon Edwards and Mike Graves. Muhammad is the reigning welterweight champion, Edwards is the former champion and Buckley, Neal and Thompson are ranked in the Top 11.
Bryan Battle salvages the weekend with a hard-fought victory over Randy Brown
Bryan Battle talked a great game prior to his bout with Randy Brown in the opener of the ESPN preliminary card. But he missed weight by four pounds on Friday and then nearly his bout. He pulled out a split decision with two judges favoring him 29-28 and the third having Brown 29-28. The fight went in spurts and the crowd often booed lustily.
It never really delivered on its promise as an action-packed fight, but the rising prospect Brown got the win he needed with good work in the clinch. He's now 7-1 in the UFC and 4-0 with a no-contest in his last five.
Evloev edges out close decision over ex-champ Aljamain Sterling
The grappling battle that was anticipated between Movsar Evloev and Aljamain Sterling developed, and Evloev pulled out the narrowest of victories. A reversal in the final minute led Evloev to a 29-28 victory over the former bantamweight champion. I had it 29-28 for Sterling.
The two combined to score 10 takedowns against a combined 20 significant strikes.
The win was his ninth in a row in the UFC and raised his record to 19-0 overall.
Dominick Reyes stops Anthony Smith, may have ended Smith's career
Anthony Smith had little to offer Dominick Reyes on Saturday and was taken down and stopped at 4:46 of the second round of their light heavyweight bout. A one-time title challenger, Smith lost for the second time in a row and is 2-5 in his last seven.
He's 36 years old and has a bright future on television as an MMA analyst. He's one of the sharpest minds on the desk of the ESPN crew. Asked by Joe Rogan in the cage after the fight if he was retiring, he said "probably," but said he wanted to think on it.