Prediction for the fight Vicente Luque vs Jeff Neal

Starting in 2020, the Brazilian prospect Vicente Luque began his confident ascent to the title fight. However, on his way he met Belal Muhammad, who crossed out the ambitions of the Silent Assassin, taking advantage of the gaps in his struggle. Now, Luke is forced to agree to a duel with Jeff Neil, who is seven steps below him in the ranking.

At UFC on ESPN 40, scheduled for August 7, Neil will have the unique opportunity to jump into the top five. And we have to admit, their fight looks very attractive, especially for fans of stand-up confrontations. Whose technique will be more effective and will positions in the rating play any role?

• Vicente Luque vs Jeff Neal;
• Vicente Luque;
• Jeff Neal;
• Comparative analysis;
• Game Totals Prediction.

Vicente Luque vs Jeff Neal

Vicente Luque

The sixth number of the rating comes from Brazil, has extensive experience in martial arts. He has a brown belt in BJJ, a purple belt in national freestyle wrestling, is also a participant in the TUF show, and is the leader in the number of finishes in the UFC 77 kg division.

Vicente has a huge number of awards for the best fights of the evening, as well as victories over such fighters as Belal Muhammad (although he lost to him in rematch), Mike Perry, Nico Price and others. In addition, like the opponent, Luke has experience in middleweight fights.

Strengths

First of all, Vicente is a drummer. He has good muay thai skills, very heavy low kicks, and decent explosive power. However, on the ground, he is also not a simpleton, and his choke holds became a problem for fairly high-level fighters. This is complemented by sports aggression and a high technical level of training, which brought the Silent Assassin to such high positions.

Weaknesses

Working under pressure and defending are two problems that Luke cannot solve in any way. The elite wrestlers of the division found a gap in his takedown defense, frankly laying low, to which he could not respond with anything. Also, more accurate strikers, who have a good sense of distance, simply did not allow him to develop attacks, because to heighten the effect, the Brazilian needs to go at least to the middle distance in order to deliver heavy blows.

The current form and readiness of the fighter

Vicente is 30 years old, and his excellent winning streak of 4 appearances was interrupted by an unfortunate defeat to Muhammad. However, neither ex-champ Tyron Woodley nor submission machine Michael Chiesa could beat Luke on their own battlefield, let alone Randy Brown and Price, with whom they rematched. Over the past two years, this athlete has been demonstrating serious progress, if we do not take into account the shortcomings in the fight, and in fights with the "near-tops" he always showed himself just fine, so there is no reason to doubt Vicente's readiness to block the loss.

Jeff Neal

Hands of steel - this is the nickname the American athlete has. At this stage of his career, he is ranked 13th in the UFC welterweight rankings, has a blue belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and has the status of an ex-contender for the Xtreme KnockOut league title.

Jeff managed to try himself in the division up to 84 kg, but during his performances in the major leagues he dealt only with welterweights, having recorded victories over Belal Muhammad, Niko Price and other “near tops” at that time.

Strengths

The indisputable advantage of the Nile is its striking power. In the best way, he opens it at medium and close range, or when he pulls the enemy towards himself, although he does not manage to do this so successfully. Accented head work, excellent takedown defense, heavy hands, good stamina and pressure are the components due to which he defeats less skillful opponents.

Weaknesses

Jeff is a rather technically limited fighter, plus he has shown himself disgustingly in those fights where he was held at a long distance (for example, with Thompson). In many episodes, he demonstrates excessive caution and prudence, giving the initiative where his knockout blow could turn the tide of the meeting.

The current form and readiness of the fighter

The fighter is 31 years old, and his statistics for the last 5 fights consists of 3 wins and 2 losses. Neil Magny and Stephen Thompson took him down with their punching skills, while Nico Price, Mike Perry and Santiago Ponzinibbio were weaker, although the latter gave him a good fight. As mentioned above, due to the limitations in the studied techniques, Neil is inferior to the guys from the top of the ratings, and he can be safely attributed to the middle peasants who rarely make it to the top. Nevertheless, in terms of physical condition and general form, there are no questions for him - Jeff is always well prepared.

Comparative analysis

It makes no sense to discuss anthropometry and dimensions in this confrontation - the guys are completely similar in these indicators, it's just that Jeff is a little more muscular, which explains his heavy blow. Speaking of skills, we can single out Luke's stalls, because in this aspect he is many times more advanced than the American, who has never shown anything but two choke points in fights with second-rate opposition in his career. But Vicente was filled with the submission of Brabo, from which both titled jitsers and high-class wrestlers suffered.

In the standing position, the “Silent Killer” also wins, because except in striking power, he is not inferior to the enemy in anything else. Work on floors, aggression, more strikes - dry statistics play on his side. True, Neil demonstrates the best level of protection, and all thanks to his scrupulousness - the athlete uses his strength very competently, rarely takes risks and does not rush into attacks if they are not carefully prepared. And he has good takedown defense. That is, Luke will have to be careful during his attacks, because Jeff's counter-attacks are a problem, and his beaters can cause an upset in this fight. In other respects, as mentioned, the Brazilian is ahead.

Vicente Luque vs Jeff Neal Fight Prediction

All Vicente has to do in order to get past Jeff is to turn on a little more prudence, and not ask for trouble. The only problem that can prevent him from doing this is the working distance, since both are used to fighting at an average, and here the exchange-lover in the form of Luke, may be faced with the polished and pedantic Hands of Steel technique. But, let's not forget that up to this point, Neal has practically not dealt with opposition of this level, and Vicente's experience will play a key role in an equal, at first glance, duel of drummers. Also, as an option, he will be able to use his game on the ground, because purely technically, Luke is a more complete fighter who looks more likely to win than a one-sided puncher who lost to all the tops of the division. Install the 1xbet app and place a bet on the favorite!

Prediction: Vicente Luque to win.