UFC Fight Night 107's Vicente Luque: Bout with Leon Edwards determines who UFC pushes at welterweight

LONDON – It may be buried in the middle of the UFC Fight Night 107 preliminary card lineup, but Vicente Luque said his matchup with Leon Edwards will have a meaningful impact on the future of the UFC’s welterweight division.

Luque (11-5-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) brings a four-fight winning streak into Saturday’s event, which streams on UFC Fight Pass from The O2 in London. Edwards (12-3 3MMA, 4-2 UFC) has won four of his past five octagon appearances.

Both just 25, Luque and Edwards each have expressed a desire to be relevant players down the line in the 170-pound weight class. Luque said only one can continue his immediate trajectory in that direction, and he believes that’s why the UFC put the matchup together.

“This is a fight where the UFC is going to see who they are going to put to the next level,” Luque told MMAjunkie. “Who are they going to put against the top guys and who is going to be in the top 15 eventually? This is definitely a test the UFC is doing with us, and I’m really excited for that.”

In Luque’s mind, he’ll be the one who takes the next step. “The Silent Assassin” had finished every opponent during his four-fight winning streak and has won three of those contests in less than half a round.

While the goal of the sport is to keep winning and face increasingly difficult competition along the way, Luque said he’s not putting pressure on himself to climb the rankings in an extraordinary fashion. He said he just wants to make sure he develops at a noticeable rate between each fight.

“It’s the longest streak I’ve had in my career as an MMA fighter, and for sure it feels great,” Luque said. “(I’m) trying to keep focused (and) not let it come to my head. I feel like I’m evolving every fight. That’s what I’m still looking for. I’m trying to learn as (many) new things as I can so I can go out there and show that evolution and fight in a different way.”

Luque views his UFC Fight Night 107 matchup with Edwards as one that will provide a helpful gauge of his improvement since scoring a 79-second knockout of Belal Muhammad at UFC 205 in November.

“Rocky” Edwards is coming off arguably the most significant victory of either fighter’s career when he submitted Albert Tumenov at UFC 204 in October. The Brit has faced the stiffer competition through his six-fight UFC tenure, but Luque said that doesn’t intimidate him. Instead, it will just mean more when he wins the fight.

“I see a guy that is really well rounded and has been evolving every fight,” Luque said. “He started as a boxer. Everyone was scared of his boxing. But he has shown now he has good ground game and good wrestling. He’s very versatile. Whenever he can go to the ground he’ll do it and whenever he needs to stand it up he’s very smart at that.”

With 18 stoppages out of a combined 23 career victories, history indicates Luque and Edwards aren’t going to need the full three-round limit to determine a winner. Luque said he views it the same way, but wouldn’t name the specific method that will lead to the victory. He just knows it’s going to happen, and when it does he expects to take a big step forward in terms of relevance in the welterweight division.

“We have similar styles; we start trying to knock each other out and wherever the fight goes to we are looking to finish,” Luque said. “I see me finishing this fight somehow. I don’t know if it’s going to be submission or if it’s going to be a knockout, but I see it finishing for sure before those three rounds.”

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 107, check out the UFC Events section of the site.