Vicente Luque vs. Rafael dos Anjos UFC on ESPN 51 Odds, Time, and Prediction

Vicente Luque and Rafael dos Anjos are generally considered to be among the best grapplers on the planet. More than 50% of Luque’s wins happened by submission, and he’s without a single loss by this method in over a decade.

Rafael dos Anjos’s grappling stats are equally great – this guy’s won almost one-third of his fights by submission. Further,  he’s without a single loss by submission in his 21 years long career, which saw him fight some incredible opponents, including the legendary Khabib.

But all this doesn’t necessarily mean the Luque vs. dos Anjos is going to be a grappling contest; these two are also great striking-wise. That said, it’s clear MMA fans will have a feast on August 12, but which of these two will have his arm raised high in the end? Let’s find out!

Vicente Luque vs. Rafael dos Anjos Odds

*Odds taken from FanDuel on Monday, August 7, 2023.

When, Where, and How to Watch?

• Place: UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada
• Date: Saturday, August 12
• Time: 10:00 p.m. ET
• How to Watch: ESPN

Vicente Luque Hoping to Revive the Hype

Back in 2021, then-29-year-old Vicente Luque was discussed as one of the potential title candidates in the UFC Welterweight division. At the year end, he had a 21-7-1 record, with four straight wins in the UFC, each of which happened inside the distance. For three of those wins, “The Silent Assassin” won the Performance of the Night bonus.

But then the year 2022 came. In April, Luque fought Belal Muhammad in what was a sort of title eliminator fight. The Brazilian did land more strikes than “Remember the Name,” but he got taken down five times by the Chicago-based wrestling expert. He did manage to sneak out and get back to his feet each time, but that just wasn’t enough – he lost the fight by unanimous decision. 

Then, less than three months later, Luque agreed to fight quick-handed Geoff Neal, which proved to be a mistake. Neal showed the world why his nickname is “Handz of Steel.” He KO-ed Luque in round 3. However, props to Luque for fighting for so long. He got hit so many times in the head in that fight but was not willing to surrender until his body just switched off.

Twelve months after suffering his first-ever knockout loss, Luque is coming back to the Octagon. This time, he’s not fighting a KO expert, but a veteran who’s one of the best grapplers on the planet.

Rafael Dos Anjos Wants to Take the Fight to the Ground

Rafael Dos Anjos is 32-14 overall with 11 wins by submission and no losses by this method, even though he’s faced some really elite grapplers/wrestlers, including Khabib Nurmagomedov. Actually, dos Anjos it the man who came the closest to inflicting Khabib his first and only loss. He was literally moments away from putting the Dagestani legend to sleep, but luck wasn’t on his side that day.

Nevertheless, the fight with Khabib remains one of the highlights of his career. Of course, we also mustn’t forget that he’s a former UFC Lightweight champ who defeated Anthony Pettis in the fight for the title, as well as defended the championship belt against Donald Cerrone.

However, all those fights happened a long time ago. Now a 38-year-old, dos Anjos is slowly approaching the end of his career. He did win his most recent fight – against Bryan Barberena last December – but before that, we saw a couple of disappointing performances from the Brazilian.

Vicente Luque vs. Rafael dos Anjos Prediction

Rafael dos Anjos is one of the biggest takedown experts in the UFC, and we think he can take Luque down. However, Luque is so good at sneaking out from opponent’s clenches that we have no doubt he’s gonna get back on his feet every time dos Anjos makes a TD.

That said, we think this fight will last until the final bell, after which the judges will probably score in dos Anjos’s favor.

Pick: Rafael dos Anjos to win by decision