Vicente Luque Credits Faith and Recovery for Renewed Perspective in the Octagon
RIO DE JANEIRO - Welterweight contender Vicente Luque says a life-threatening brain injury sustained in a 2022 bout with Rafael dos Anjos fundamentally shifted his outlook on life and his fighting career. Luque, who faces Joel Alvarez on Saturday’s main card at Farmasi Arena in Rio de Janeiro, was diagnosed with a subdural hematoma – a bleed on the brain – after losing to dos Anjos, an injury that initially jeopardized his future in the sport. He became the first man to be stopped by strikes by dos Anjos.
The injury forced a year-long medical suspension and a complete break from Luque’s typically relentless training regimen, replaced by a period of focused recovery and rest. This period of forced stillness,Luque explained,led to a deeper spiritual connection.
“That changed things completely, and it’s funny because that’s also when I had the encounter with God, started learning more about Jesus, and it changed my perspective,” Luque said. “I am blessed to still do what I love to do, and before that, I didn’t appreciate everything that I had as much as I could have appreciated it.”
Luque admits he previously took for granted the routine demands of being a professional fighter. “I took for granted stepping into the gym and training, getting into fights and having battles, coming out of them, recovering, and fighting again,” he added. “Now I look at it like,’Through all this,God took care of me.’ It was a miracle because most cases, this is not how it ends: most people will have some kind of [lingering effects]; they will not be the same after that, and I was fully recovered and back to fighting in a year.”
fully recovered, Luque views his return to competition not just as a continuation of his career, but as a testament to his faith and a second chance. “If that’s not a miracle, I don’t know what is.”
