Vicente Luque ‘would love to welcome’ Dustin Poirier to welterweight after UFC on ESPN 51 win

Vicente Luque wants big fights only after winning his comeback fight from injury at UFC on ESPN 51, and Dustin Poirier applies.

Luque (22-9-1 MMA, 15-5 UFC) returned to competition after a yearlong layoff on Saturday to defeat former champion Rafael dos Anjos (33-15 MMA, 21-13 UFC) by unanimous decision in a welterweight main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The result snapped a two-fight losing skid, and allowed him to regain confidence after his career was nearly ended due to a brain bleed stemming from his first and only knockout loss to Geoff Neal.

After the fight, Luque said he’s keen to share the octagon with any top-five fighter at 170 pounds. If that doesn’t work out timing-wise, though, he was warm to the idea of fighting former interim UFC champ Poirier (29-8 MMA, 21-7 UFC) who has teased the idea of moving up from lightweight several times over the years and has no clear next move after his head kick knockout loss to Justin Gaethje in their “BMF” title bout at UFC 291 this past month.

“An interesting fight as well, I think I would love to welcome Dustin Poirier, if he needs somebody,” Luque said on the UFC on ESPN 51 post-fight show. “He said he might go to 170, so who knows? We could make that work.”

Whether Poirier has any interest in taking a fight with Luque remains to be seen. However, he could fit Poirier’s desired criteria of a dangerous opponent who gives him fear.

Luque’s win over dos Anjos was his second decision win over out of 15 career UFC triumphs. He landed a career-best eight takedowns in the five-round contest.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 51.

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