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#5 Vicente Luque vs. Bryan Barbarena

Vicente Luque is one of the UFC's most ruthless finishers

A tough, blue-collar fighter who’s proven incredibly hard to finish over his 5-year UFC career, Bryan Barberena rose to fame in 2016 after defeating the heavily pushed Sage Northcutt via arm triangle choke on one of the UFC’s big Fox shows. A win over Warlley Alves followed and suggested he could climb the ranks, but losses to Colby Covington and Leon Edwards have since put paid to that idea.

Like the gritty Darren Elkins, Barberena is happy to exchange from inside the clinch, on the ground and on his feet. Not the best athlete, Barberena can be hurt by strikes but it’s proven practically impossible to finish, and if you can’t get him out of there then he’ll keep on coming like a bearded terminator.

Vicente Luque then is an interesting test for him as more than anything, he’s been an absolutely ruthless finisher since his Octagon debut in 2015. Currently 7-2 in the UFC, Luque has finished all of his opponents by either knockout or submission, and the only times he’s been the distance, he was beaten. Those losses though came against a very strong wrestler (the since-released Michael Graves) and the streaking Leon Edwards, who also beat Barbarena when they fought.

For me, the big issue for Barbarena here comes from the fact that while Luque is a vicious finisher like Alves – who Barbarena outlasted – he’s also no stranger to a gutter-war and doesn’t tend to slow down as Warlley does. His insane brawl against Hayder Hassan on TUF showed this, and since then he’s improved tenfold.

I just don’t see Barberena grinding Luque out in this one and I suspect his tendency to get hurt early on will doom him. Luque can probably beat Barbarena in all areas, but I think he’ll probably hurt him standing before finishing him off with a choke variant once the fight hits the ground, continuing his impressive run of violence.

The Pick: Luque via first round submission