Vicente Luque says his move to middleweight is already paying off after a successful debut at UFC 327, where he submitted Kelvin Gastelum in the first round.
The longtime welterweight contender officially transitioned to 185 pounds for the bout and came out of fight night encouraged by how his body responded to the new division. Luque revealed he was “about 200-201” pounds on Saturday night of the fight.
“I don't have an idea of how heavy the guys get at middleweight, but definitely I felt really good. I felt really strong. Adding muscle definitely was something that I did add during the training camp, but was not something that I focused strictly on doing. Building muscle was not a focus point, let's say, for my change. It was just being able to train harder. Obviously my strength and conditioning did change a little bit. We did emphasize a little bit on getting power, so building power, building strength, not necessarily putting on muscle, but obviously if I'm getting stronger,” Luque said.
Training regularly with established middleweights like Reinier de Ridder and Gregory “Robocop” Rodrigues has also shaped Luque’s approach. “Obviously, I don't think that I'm going to be one of the strongest guys, and I train with so many middleweights... It's something that I have become used to,” he noted, adding, “I think that I have time to build my body into a middleweight.”
Luque emphasized he does not want to rush bulking up, prioritizing performance over size for future three- and five-round fights at 185 pounds.
