Vicente Luque added another former UFC champion to his resume on Saturday when he defeated Rafael dos Anjos in the UFC on ESPN 51 headliner.
Luque (22-9-1 MMA, 15-5 UFC) returned from a concerning brain injury and yearlong layoff and earned a unanimous decision victory over dos Anjos (33-15 MMA, 21-13 UFC) in the welterweight main event, which took place at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas.
Check below for the top Twitter reactions to Luque’s win over dos Anjos at UFC on ESPN 51.
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MMA Junkie
We've arrived at the main event for #UFCVegas78!
A big welterweight showdown scheduled for 5️⃣ between Vicente Luque and Rafael dos Anjos is about to begin!
Play-by-play: https://t.co/tzKeMPqrEG pic.twitter.com/nTv19c6GpM
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) August 13, 2023
UFC
Making his 34th UFC walk 👏👏👏@RdosAnjosMMA | #UFCVegas78 pic.twitter.com/nG8lnsERdD
— UFC (@ufc) August 13, 2023
UFC
𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑺𝑰𝑳𝑬𝑵𝑻 𝑨𝑺𝑺𝑨𝑺𝑺𝑰𝑵 makes his entrance 😤@VicenteLuqueMMA | #UFCVegas78 pic.twitter.com/cM2nRZV0WJ
— UFC (@ufc) August 13, 2023
UFC
Brace yourself! The main event is here! 🤩
It's an All-Brazilian showdown between @RDosAnjosMMA and @VicenteLuqueMMA set for five rounds and it starts NOW! #UFCVegas78 pic.twitter.com/U1fJhmzfji
— UFC_Asia (@UFC_Asia) August 13, 2023
Cageside Press
RDA right hand misses, but he lands the back elbow, then shoots on Luque.
LUQUE GETS RDA DOWN!!!! RDA GUILLOTINE!!!!!
RDA GOING FOR IT WITH THE QUARTER GUARD BUT THEY'RE STUCK ON THE FENCE!!!!
LUQUE ESCAPES AND TAKES THE BACK!!!! #UFCVegas78
— Cageside Press (@Cagesidepress) August 13, 2023
Hyon Ko
Luque with no ring rust. He edged that first round. Looking solid. #UFCVegas78
— Hyon Ko (@KoreanJohn_) August 13, 2023
Caposa
That was a good, close round. Maybe the guillotine attempt edged it to RDA
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) August 13, 2023
Teddy Atlas
UFC, Dos Anjos, – Luque, Great 1st round both had moments, even or slight edge Dos Anjos. #UFCVegas78
— Teddy Atlas (@TeddyAtlasReal) August 13, 2023
Bloody Elbow
Luque and RDA trading body kicks to start round 2. #UFCVegas78
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) August 13, 2023
Cageside Press
These guys are in wrestling class at the moment lol. Luque looking to keep RDA down, but can't! RDA to his feet, STANDING ARM TRIANGLE OHHH LUQUE LOSES IT!!!!!
Luque landing lefts to the body! NASTY ELBOW ON THE BREAK FROM LUQUE!!!
Round ends with RDA shooting. #UFCVegas78
— Cageside Press (@Cagesidepress) August 13, 2023
Teddy Atlas
These guys so evenly matched, great matchmaking. #UFCVegas78
— Teddy Atlas (@TeddyAtlasReal) August 13, 2023
Fight Ghost
Luque -250 live wagering fave entering round 3, UFC main event #UFCVegas78
— Fight Ghost (@Fight_Ghost) August 13, 2023
Aaron Bronsteter
Luque fighting a lot more economically and defensively tonight.
— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) August 13, 2023
Mookie Alexander
RDA's never been submitted (well, I guess Guida!) so Luque trying that is brave.
— Mookie Alexander (@mookiealexander) August 13, 2023
Alan Jouban
The key to this fight for RDA seemed to be the wrestling, but he hasn’t been able to win that fight so far! #UFCVegas78
— Alan Jouban (@AlanJouban) August 13, 2023
Caposa
R3 to RDA but I’m still torn on R2 to be honest. There was not a whole lot to go by. I feel like I can’t score this fight. 29-28 someone.
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) August 13, 2023
Sean Sheehan
RDA has fought into the championship rounds 10 times.
Luque has fought into the championship rounds once. #UFCVegas78
— Seán Sheehan (@SeanSheehanBA) August 13, 2023
Matthew Wells
I have this fight 29-28 for Luque. It's ridiculously close, though. Could be either way. #UFCVegas78
— Matthew Wells (@MrMWells) August 13, 2023
Jed. I Goodman
#UFCVegas78 pic.twitter.com/xgqs1qDQkh
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) August 13, 2023
Kenny Florian
Scoring for Luque vs RDA so far.
Rnd 1: both guys threw strikes and grappled so I don’t know.
Rnd 2: noticed one guy doing more than the other guy so again, no clue.
Rnd 3: one guy clearly won grappling and striking so probably, maybe, possibly was a round won by that guy.
— Kenny Florian (@kennyflorian) August 13, 2023
Belal Muhammad
Greet fight from luque so far
— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) August 13, 2023
Hyon Ko
Luque executing a complete bag of tricks against former champ RDA. What a comeback showing after the health issues #UFCVegas78
— Hyon Ko (@KoreanJohn_) August 13, 2023
Matthew Wells
3-1 Luque on my card. #UFCVegas78
— Matthew Wells (@MrMWells) August 13, 2023
Teddy Atlas
Luque won the battle of Geography that round. #UFCVegas78
— Teddy Atlas (@TeddyAtlasReal) August 13, 2023
Bloody Elbow
Luque back on his jab to start round 5. RDA pushes forward and gets reversed on to the fence. #UFCVegas78
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) August 13, 2023
Teddy Atlas
Luque so calm and skilled in there. Both technically solid, Luque in charge. #UFCVegas78
— Teddy Atlas (@TeddyAtlasReal) August 13, 2023
Belal Muhammad
Dc is right colby won his intern welterweight belt by beating a lightweight
— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) August 13, 2023
Caposa
Luque really isn’t doing anything this round
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) August 13, 2023
Cageside Press
We're dancing on the fence again.
Shots from RDA on the break and he has to go NOW and is! Big hooks for RDA!!!
High kick misses but he's going iN!!!!
BIG SHOTS FROM RDA!!!! LUQUE SHOOTS, RDA GETS ON TOP! LUQUE HANGING ONTO HIM WITH 10 SECONDS LEFT!!! #UFCVegas78
— Cageside Press (@Cagesidepress) August 13, 2023
Belal Muhammad
Great fight luque wrestling is a new weapon to look out for
— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) August 13, 2023
Glad luque is back he’s a good guy and great fighter
— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) August 13, 2023
UFC
All respect to these two after going all 5 rounds 👏 #UFCVegas78 pic.twitter.com/ff9u3eAIkb
— UFC (@ufc) August 13, 2023
MMA Junkie
#UFCVegas78 results: Vicente Luque (@VicenteLuqueMMA) def. Rafael dos Anjos via unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47)
Play-by-play: https://t.co/tzKeMPqrEG pic.twitter.com/ae9LlLK7Yw
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) August 13, 2023
UFC
The Silent Assassin gets it done! 🗡️
🇧🇷@VicenteLuqueMMA comes out on top after that back-and-forth affair! #UFCVegas78 pic.twitter.com/lAfP8si0Uo
— UFC_Asia (@UFC_Asia) August 13, 2023
Gilbert Burns
Wow Great performance by @VicenteLuqueMMA fighting a legend of the sport @RdosAnjosMMA I like both is this guys a lot! Tough one for me to watch but you guys put on a great fight! ✊🏾✊🏾 #UFCVegas78
— GILBERT BURNS DURINHO (@GilbertDurinho) August 13, 2023
Richard Mann
It was relatively obvious that Vicente Luque needed to find a way to limit RDA's control time, but it was also unexpected that Luque would have so much success in the clinch #UFCVegas78 pic.twitter.com/HXwK3xi0hb
— Richard Mann (@RichardAMann) August 13, 2023
Belal Muhammad
rda and Dustin next ?
— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) August 13, 2023
