"Nothing's gonna change" - John McCarthy makes bold claim for the Vicente Luque vs. Belal Muhammad rematch

‘Big’ John McCarthy has weighed in with his take on the upcoming rematch between Vicente Luque and Belal Muhammad. Speaking to co-host and former UFC lightweight fighter Josh Thomson on the Weighing In podcast, McCarthy suggested that Luque is likely to knock Muhammad out yet again and go 2-0 against him.

In their first fight, Luque defeated Muhammad via first-round KO at UFC 205 in November 2016. The official then was none other than McCarthy. He has since retired as an MMA referee, but continues to closely follow the sport.

Luque is set to face Muhammad in a five-round welterweight bout. It will mark the second time they have clashed inside the octagon. Their rematch will headline the UFC on ESPN: Luque vs. Muhammad 2 fight card on April 16 and speaking about the welterweight showdown, John McCarthy stated:

“Vicente Luque against Belal Muhammad in the UFC. I’m gonna go with Vicente Luque one more time. Look, I think Vicente Luque is a phenomenal fighter. And I think Belal Muhammad has become a phenomenal fighter, as far as he really relied so much – back then, he relied so much on his wrestling, and he wasn’t able to really take Luque down. And that was the difference in the fight. And guess what? Nothing’s gonna change.”

Josh Thomson chimed in and asked McCarthy whether he truly believed that Luque would knock Muhammad out again. McCarthy replied by insinuating that Luque was likely to emerge victorious again and emphasizing that he’s an underappreciated fighter.

Watch John McCarthy and Josh Thomson’s conversation regarding the Luque-Muhammad rematch in the video below:

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Vicente Luque lauds Belal Muhammad for the improvements he’s made since their first fight

In a recent interview with Full Mount MMA, Luque discussed his much-awaited rematch against Muhammad. He said he did not read too much into their first fight since he won with a quick knockout:

“Belal has definitely improved a lot. He has a great winning streak right now. He has developed his game a lot. I mean, it impressed me how he controlled [Stephen] Thompson in his last fight. So, that’s one of the fights that I’ve really been watching to kind of get – His timing, his movement, it has changed since we fought.”

Luque added Muhammad would enter their rematch with a much better game plan and avoid striking with him. 'The Silent Assasin' said he’s taking the rematch very seriously and is prepared for whatever 'Remember the Name' brings to the table come fight night.