‘Still a lot to do’… UFC 316 star who suffered scary brain injury has no plans to retire

A serious health scare wasn’t enough to put one UFC 316 star off fighting.

The UFC’s latest pay-per-view takes place at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on Saturday.

Headlining will be the bantamweight title rematch between Merab Dvalishvili and Sean O’Malley, with Julianna Pena’s 135-pound title defense against Kayla Harrison setting the stage.

Plenty of prominent names will feature on the undercard, including one longtime contender who is just a few years on from a life-changing injury scare.

UFC 316’s Vicente Luque has no timeline for his retirement despite serious injury

The UFC 316 main card will open with a welterweight showdown between veteran Vicente Luque and fan favorite Kevin Holland.

For ‘The Silent Assassin’, the bout marks his fourth assignment since returning from a serious brain injury that threatened to cut his fighting career short.

Following Luque’s brutal knockout loss to Geoff Neal – which came months on from a beatdown against Belal Muhammad – post-fight testing discovered a brain bleed, also known as a subdural hematoma.

A one-year medical suspension was handed down by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. After recovering well, Luque returned in August 2023.

While some might expect such a severe brain injury to restrict Luque’s remaining time in the sport, the Brazilian insists that he is 100 percent healthy and has no plans to hang up the gloves anytime soon.

“I’ve been 10 years into the UFC. It’s been a long run, and I’ve still got a lot to do inside that Octagon. I’m excited,” Luque said on MMA Junkie Radio.

“I started professionally at 17 years old. I wanted to have the most amount of fights possible, and that’s exactly what my career has been about.

“I don’t have a plan on when to stop. I don’t really have a number of fights,” Luque added. “I want to do as many fights as possible, fight for as long as possible.

“I want to step in that Octagon and do what I do. … I want to get back into that mix, into that top five. That’s the goal for this year.”

Vicente Luque’s three-fight run since returning from brain scare

Luque, who still holds a position inside the welterweight top 15, got back on track in his comeback fight against Rafael dos Anjos.

But after outpointing the former lightweight champion in their Apex main event, fans were left grimacing when Luque was knocked out by Joaquin Buckley in his second fight back from the brain bleed.

‘The Silent Assassin’ once again bounced back in his last fight, putting on a vintage grappling display to submit Themba Gorimbo with an anaconda choke in just 52 seconds at UFC 310 in December 2024.

ResultOpponentMethodEventWinThemba GorimboSubmissionUFC 310LoseJoaquin BuckleyTKOUFC Atlantic CityWinRafael dos AnjosDecisionUFC Vegas 78

Luque will now look for his first win streak since returning to action by defending his ranking against the always dangerous Holland.