Vicente Luque seeks UFC 316 finish Kevin Holland to prove he's 'hungry for that title'
Vicente Luque seeks UFC 316 finish Kevin Holland to prove he's 'hungry for that title'
Vicente Luque thinks he's now well past the brain bleed that threatened his career and is ready to show he's back to full form against Kevin Holland at UFC 316.
After a more than yearlong hiatus from competition that end in mid-2023, Luque (23-10-1 MMA, 16-6 UFC) has won two of three fights since his comeback. His most recent performance saw him choke out Themba Gorimbo in 52 seconds at UFC 310 in December, setting him up for the June 7 showdown with fan favorite Holland at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+).
Although neither men occupy a top 15 spot in the UFC welterweight rankings, Luque knows the value Holland carries with his name, and he sees this matchup as a key stepping stone in where he needs to be.
"It's one of the fights to get me back to the top," Luque told MMA Junkie Radio. "That's what I'm looking for. I want to get back into that mix in the top five. That's the goal for this year, and I think a fight against Holland – it's not easy to get a ranked opponent right now, and I don't want to wait. I've been waiting for a long time and I think that Holland is that kind of name who has been in the rankings in middleweight and welterweight.
"He's a guy that everyone is backing and supporting and I think it's a fight that brings the hype, and it's win, if I go out there and pick up a good win against him, I think that sets me up for a great fight after that and moves me up the rankings. That's my goal to get back to that top five and get back to the title picture."
Luque thinks the matchup with Holland is one that will bring out his most violent side. He already has the second-most finishes in UFC welterweight history with 14, and can tie Matt Brown's all-time record of 15 if he puts Holland away inside the distance.
That is something Luque will be pushing hard for, and when it happen, he thinks he will be back in the rankings and start to gain traction as a title contender that he had earlier in his career.
"He's not trying to stall, he's not trying to have a safe fight. That's what I like. That's what brings the best out of me. … My own game is I can knock you out, I can submit you. I'm a complete MMA fighter and more than anything, I'm always going for that finish. It's a style that really matches well."
"We have all the ingredients to make a Fight of the Night, a Fight of the Year. To go out there and do what I do and show the UFC and everybody that I'm still hungry for that title. I'm climbing up. I'm just 33 years old. I feel like I'm still just getting better. That's what I'm going to show that night."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
17 minutes ago
- Yahoo
There may be a medical reason why Tyrese Haliburton's voice changes
Indiana Pacers star guard Tyrese Haliburton has continued his heroic postseason run, but if you listen to him talk about it, you may notice something. Haliburton, who represented Team USA during the Paris Olympics, occasionally sounds like he has two entirely different voices. Just press play on this clip of Haliburton talking about the improbable comeback that Indiana had against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game of the NBA Finals. Advertisement In the beginning of the interview on national TV, Haliburton is speaking with a slightly deeper voice. Then (ironically) right as he said the words "why would that change" later in the conversation, his voice suddenly had a much higher pitch. More: Tyrese Haliburton and the Pacers keep pulling off the impossible It happened during his postgame press conference as well: This is something that some fans noticed when Haliburton appeared on The Young Man and the Three with JJ Redick. Then it happened against before the 2024 NBA All-Star Game hosted in Indiana as well: Haliburton has acknowledged that this is indeed something that happens to him. It is something he has talked about with ESPN's Pat McAfee. Advertisement Here is what what he says: "I do. People say that all the time ... I never catch it. I watch podcasts after and I'm like, 'Dang, my voice changed.' I didn't do that on purpose. It just happened. It just happens that way naturally sometimes." Haliburton added that he feels he has no control over it, and it's something that just happens to him. So why exactly does that happen? Brianna Williams reached out to Dr. Michael M. Johns from USC's Voice Center, and he provided a possible explanation (via ESPN): "Vocalization is a lot like athletics; people don't think of it that way because it happens naturally," Dr. Johns told ESPN. "It's like putting aluminum foil on a guitar string; the sound changes when the vibration is irregular." Regarding Haliburton's voice, Dr. Johns observed: "When you listen to Tyrese's voice, there's a rough quality to it, and that would likely be a change of what's happening at the vocal cords, like that 'tinfoil on the guitar string' analogy." He speculated that Haliburton might be compensating for vocal fatigue by changing his resonance, shifting the shape of his vocal tract or resonator. "Athletes are using their voice a lot, and they're using their voice loudly," Dr. Johns explained. "They're hollering across the court. There's a huge amount of noise around them. They've got to be heard over that noise. And so they, like other vocal athletes, can develop some injury to their vocal folds, vocal nodules, or vocal swelling that can cause some rough quality to the voice." This is fascinating and something that makes Haliburton very unique. This article originally appeared on For The Win: There may be a medical reason why Tyrese Haliburton's voice changes
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
UFC 316: The face of women's MMA is being debated again — but is that even a thing?
The first true face of women's MMA might've been its last. That was of course Ronda Rousey, who crashed the ol' boy's party a dozen years ago by rolling a red carpet straight into the Octagon. She brought sophisticated media outlets up close to the sport that wouldn't have touched it with tongs before her arrival. When she broke news of her fight with Holly Holm, she did so on Good Morning America. It was Holm, of course, who ruined it all by knocking out Rousey at UFC 193. And it was Amanda Nunes who made damn sure Rousey would never come back after UFC 207. Advertisement Cut forward nearly nine years to UFC 316 and it feels like we're still wondering who the next face of women's MMA will be. This weekend Kayla Harrison challenges Julianna Peña for the women's bantamweight title, that glam accessory that once-upon-a-time carried so much weight. The two have been arguing over who will become the next face of women's MMA, which feels like it should be a big deal. Problem is, they seem to be the only people arguing about it. Fans aren't. Media isn't. The broader national media doesn't even know it's happening. It's doubtful that Ring Magazine, the 'Bible of Boxing,' will put the winner on its next cover as it did Rousey, or that Clay Travis will insist Harrison, should she win, fight Gervonta Davis in her next bout, as he insisted that Rousey should fight Floyd Mayweather. Saturday's fight seems to be a kind of Amanda Nunes sweepstakes more than anything else, which these days is stakes enough. The winner will almost certainly get to fight the consensus women's GOAT, who has vowed to come back after retiring in 2023. Before that happens, Nunes will get inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in a ceremony that takes place during International Fight Week later this month. Advertisement It's a win-win for the UFC. Nunes' only loss in the past decade came against Peña at UFC 269, a defeat she avenged less than a year later. That trilogy seems to be circled in sacred blood on Peña's bucket list. She has been vying for that chance for a long, long time. And should Harrison win, you have perhaps one of the most anticipated women's title fights of the past 10 years, given that both Harrison and Nunes are tanks with an intwined backstory dating to their days training together at ATT. One way or another, there's a big fight hanging in the balance of UFC 316, even if it has nothing to do with unveiling the next face of women's MMA. Maybe the trouble is that we've set the bar too high on this concept in the first place. When Rousey came in, she made everything that followed possible. In that way, she began her UFC career as God, which, you have to admit, is a super tough act to follow. Her presence brought it all into being. Nobody can replicate that kind of flex. It helped that she treated whoever the UFC booked her against like crash test dummies, submitting most of them in the opening seconds with savage armbars. She came in and ruled what was traditionally a man's game from the start. That's why young girls were crying when they met her wherever she went. UFC is still searching for its next Ronda Rousey. (Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) (Jeff Bottari via Getty Images) She was a symbol of something far greater than her actual status — a testament of possibility. The way she left the sport turned people against her, but that initial boom holds on as an impossible standard. Advertisement We've seen a lot of great fighters come and go in her stead. There have been moments where, if you were to squint, it looked like we might be looking at the 'next' one. Rose Namajunas was designated the next Ronda Rousey as far back as her appearances on "The Ultimate Fighter" in 2014. She's had her moments. Big moments. So has Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Weili Zhang, Valentina Shevchenko, as well as Holly Holm, Miesha Tate and Nunes herself. They've all had great careers, and some of them are still going strong. Including Nunes. Thing is, as dominant as she's been, she never wanted to embrace being the face of the sport. She was happy to win titles in two weight classes and to beat the living hell out of people, but not all the rest that comes with it. When she abruptly retired after beating Irene Aldana at UFC 289, it came with a few sad trumpet noises from the peanut gallery, but next to no real fanfare, other than the requisite tributes. Yet if she can solidify her standing as the women's GOAT by coming back and beating either Peña or Harrison? She'll take that. Really, that's all that matters. The closest thing to a 'superstar' in the making right now in the women's ranks might be the young Dakota Ditcheva, who's blowing up everyone she faces in the PFL. She's the nearest thing to the 'R' word we've seen in a while, yet it would be unfair to launch her into the sun like that, either. Which is fine. On Saturday night, Peña's the champion, and Harrison is the two-time Olympic gold medalist coming to take her belt. Take all comparisons away, and there's nothing wrong with simply being the best in women's MMA. From there, the public will see what it wants to.
Indianapolis Star
24 minutes ago
- Indianapolis Star
Doyel: The story behind the story of Pacers coach Rick Carlisle defending ESPN Doris Burke
OKLAHOMA CITY – Pacers coach Rick Carlisle has said what he's said before Game 1 of the NBA Finals and now NBA analyst Doris Burke of ESPN is trending nationally on social media, which happens from time to time. Happens to a lot of people in the business, to some more than others. And some forms of social media being uglier than others – looking at you, Twitter or X or whatever we're calling you this week – it happens often to Burke. She trends online. She's trending again early Thursday evening, after Carlisle said what he said before Game 1, only this is good. This is amazing. Rick Carlisle has just used his platform at the height of its reach – less than 90 minutes before Game 1 of the 2025 NBA Finals – to speak up for Burke, and to speak out against unnecessary online cruelty. Social media is responding positively to Carlisle, and to Burke, and now her phone is blowing up. The noise is so loud it finds her inside that soundproof room at Paycom Center, home of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Burke is waiting with the rest of ESPN's broadcast team for Game 1, and you'll never believe who they're waiting to speak with at this exact minute, so I'll tell you: They're waiting for Rick Carlisle. Re-live the Pacers incredible postseason run with our commemorative book This is the schedule. NBA coaches speak to reporters about 90 minutes before tipoff – regular season, playoffs, that's the schedule. Then they have their pregame sit-down with the broadcast team. Then they coach. Burke is sitting there, waiting for Carlisle, with no idea what has just happened. She's not on social media, are you kidding me? That cesspool of malice and misogyny? But there in that soundproof room, waiting for the head coach of the Indiana Pacers, her phone is buzzing, one jolt after another, one friend after another saying something along the lines of: OMG And: I have a new favorite NBA coach! And: Rick Carlisle! News: Carlisle defends ESPN's Doris Burke, laments leaked reports ahead of NBA Finals Doris Burke is sitting there, and the information is coming to her in snippets of text messages, notes from friends. Tears are filling her eyes. This is not easy, OK? It's not easy putting yourself out there, day after week after month after year, and knowing – because we know, whether we look or not – that strangers are using our experiences as a punching bag. Burke knows, generally, what's out there when the trolls gather at their social media garbage dump and turn their gaze toward the first woman to analyze NBA games for ESPN. And she knows, specifically, what Rick Carlisle has just done for her. But no time to think about that. Time to work, and there's a knock on the door. Rick Carlisle walks in. Doyel from Game 1: Pacers never give up, have a star who doesn't miss in clutch time So, the reason Carlisle spoke up for Burke. It was a story on The Athletic suggesting ESPN could be changing its NBA Finals broadcast booth next year, the kind of thing that happens in this and any other business. People get promoted or replaced. Most don't have to find out through the media, though, and in that small subset, most people don't have to grapple what is happening on social media: That strangers – call them what they are, incels and trolls – are celebrating the news. So, the story went online within 24 hours of Game 1 of the NBA Finals. A scoop, we call that in my business. Carlisle sees it, and understand, as longtime president of the NBA Coaches Association, Carlisle speaks up for people all over this sport. When the Knicks fired Tom Thibodeau shortly after being eliminated by the Pacers in the Eastern Conference semifinals, Carlisle was meeting with reporters the day before Game 1 of the NBA Finals and someone asked for his reaction. 'When I first saw it, I thought it was one of those fake AI (artificial intelligence) things,' Carlisle said. 'No way. There's no way possible.' Carlisle went onto share his reaction, using words like 'shocked' and 'numb' and noting that the Knicks have had 'a lot of lean years. Thibs went in there and changed so much.' This is who Carlisle is. Now, before you see what happened when he walked into the soundproof room at Paycom Center before Game 1 on Thursday night, you need to hear what he'd said about Doris Burke minutes earlier. This is how it looked, and sounded: It's 90 minutes before tipoff. Carlisle walks into the room. Normally before a playoff game he's quiet, curt, wanting this pregame media obligation to end as quickly as possible. He has work to do, you know? Normally he sits down, looks around and waits quietly for someone to ask a question. This time, before Game 1, he's not waiting quietly. 'Before we start…' is how he starts. First words out of Rick Carlisle's mouth to a roomful of national reporters. These are the next words: 'You know, when you get into this business, whether you're in coaching, whether you're a player, certainly media people have experienced scrutiny, broadcasting. It's a dynamic business. You're subject to things from unnamed sources. It's just part of it. 'So I saw the things that were leaked yesterday about Doris Burke. I just want to say a couple of things. 'She has changed the game for women in broadcasting. I have a daughter who just turned 21, who is in her second year at UVa. She's not in the basketball industry. But Doris is a great example of courage and putting herself out there. "It was just so sad to see these reports leaked, really unnecessarily before such a celebrated event. 'Doris is a friend. I've asked her many times: 'Why don't you get into coaching?' She has such great knowledge. 'There are many women (now broadcasting NBA games) who she's paved the way for. I'll name a few of them: Sarah Kustok in Brooklyn who does a great job, Lisa Byington in Milwaukee, Kate Scott in Philadelphia, Monica McNutt, New York Knicks. Katy Winge from Denver, Zora Stephenson in Portland, Ann Meyers Drysdale in Phoenix, and Marney Gellner does some play-by-play for games with Minnesota. 'I don't know what's going to happen with all that stuff. But I just want to say thank you to Doris for the example that she has put forth for young women like my daughter and all these people who are changing the game. "She has changed the game. That's the reason that she was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame a couple of years ago. I just want to say that in support of her.' Soon he's done with us, and walking the hall of Paycom Center. He's heading toward Doris Burke. And as her phone is blowing up, one jolt comes from Rick Carlisle. He's sending her a text message. A story from 15 years ago: At this point, Doris Burke has made a name for herself after analyzing all manner of basketball – NCAA men's and women's, WNBA – and now she's starting to blaze trails: First woman to commentate Knicks games on radio and TV. First woman commentator for a Big East men's game, and to be the lead analyst for a network's conference coverage. First woman to become a full-time national NBA analyst, first woman to call conference and NBA Finals on radio, then TV. But it's not easy, being the first. This isn't the story from 15 years ago – it's coming – but just a few years back Burke was doing a podcast with Miami Heat forward Duncan Robinson, an unlikely NBA story himself after playing at Division III Williams College. They got to talking about their shared experience in the NBA. 'We had a long conversation about imposter syndrome,' Burke says. 'I fight it every it day. I've never pretended to play or coach in the NBA. I consider myself in many ways, a very well-studied fan. This game I'm so passionate about, it has shaped my life since I was 7. Yes, I played college basketball (she was an All-American guard at Providence in 1987) but I kind of go at it the way a fan does. When I was a sideline reporter, the questions I was thinking were: What would I have been thinking at home as a fan? What would I have wanted to know?' So this happened about 15 years ago: Doris Burke is preparing for an NBA game, and her broadcast team is meeting with both coaches about 75 minutes before tipoff – and after finishing, one coach stops on his way out. Doris Burke is telling me this story Thursday night, in the minutes after Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton has just beaten the Thunder in the final second of Game 1. The Paycom Center is still buzzing wildly, not unlike her cell phone before the game, and Burke is standing at her courtside booth, removing all those microphones and earpieces. She's telling me about this meeting 15 years ago, and she's showing me what happened as that coach stopped on his way out the door: 'He grabs me by the shoulders and looks me in the eye,' Burke tells me, then shows me. 'And he says, 'Doris, you are doing an incredible job at this.'' That was how she met Rick Carlisle. They've talked a lot over the years, work and otherwise, professional colleagues and real-world friends. That's why Carlisle texted her Thursday night before his visit with ESPN's broadcast team. He texted her something supportive, something along the lines of what he'd just told the media, and now Burke is confused. 'I'm thinking, 'Oh boy, he's not going to say something out there is he?'' she says. 'Shortly after I have that thought, multiple people hit me with texts about what he's just said.' Burke is grateful, and the emotions are coming. And now there he is, walking into the soundproof interview room. 'He greets us all normally,' Burke says. 'I always hug him, but I just probably squeezed him a little tighter than normal, and I said: 'The article is just part of the business. I didn't really react to it, but I did react to your support of me and I can't thank you enough.' 'I was emotional,' she says, 'no question about it.' Burke is telling me about it, and it's happening again. 'I've said this often,' she says, and she's pausing because the gratitude filling her heart is now reaching up into her throat and catching her words. 'Forgive me here,' she says, then continues. 'The players and the coaches, going back to my time covering every single thing I've ever covered – women's and men's college, WNBA, NBA – the players and coaches have been always my soft landing spot. They have always given me incredible support. And at various times I've expressed gratitude.' Now she wants to be specific, about the supremely public gesture – more than that – Rick Carlisle had made for her before Game 1. 'Think about who Rick Carlisle is as person,' she says. 'He is about to coach Game 1 of the NBA Finals, and he takes the time to reach out to me to make sure I am OK. He is so passionate about the game and everyone who is part of the game. There is a reason he has led the (NBA) coaches association for as long as he has, a reason why he talks to players about getting into coaching and making them believe they can have an impact in this profession. There is a reason when he talks about officials, that he does it with incredible respect. 'It blows me away that in that moment in time, he has the heart to feel for another human being. So incredibly moving to me.' They hug there in the broadcast room, Doris Burke thanks Rick Carlisle, and then it is time to work. 'We got down to the business of basketball,' she says. Find IndyStar columnist Gregg Doyel on Threads, or on BlueSky and Twitter at @GreggDoyelStar, or at Subscribe to the free weekly Doyel on Demand newsletter.
