With a game plan that may have come as a surprise to many, Vicente Luque’s cage control and grappling were on display in a crucial return to the win column.

Luque (22-9-1 MMA, 15-5 UFC) outworked former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos (32-14 MMA, 21-12 UFC) for a 25-minute unanimous decision Saturday. Luque won with a 49-46 score and a pair of 48-47s in large part thanks to a career-best eight takedowns. The welterweight bout was the UFC on ESPN 51 main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Luque needed special approval from the Nevada commission due to a brain hemorrhage that stemmed from his August 2022 knockout loss to Geoff Neal. But he was cleared to compete, and had a win he said was critical for him – and one he was nervous about before he got hit the first time.

The first round featured a lot of back-and-forth for the first half the frame trading positions on the fence. But when dos Anjos broke away, he did so with a lot of power and the Brazilians traded heavy punches in the center of the cage. Luque landed a solid body punch with 90 seconds left, then went to the body with kicks. Dos Anjos answered with a leaping elbow, then tied things up with some wrestling on the fence.

With 45 seconds left in the round, dos Anjos jumped guard and grabbed a guillotine choke, but Luque fought out of it and got his own control at the end of the frame before the horn.

Midway through the second, after a half-round of looking for openings on the fence, dos Anjos got a takedown. But Luque needed only a second to pop back up, and Luque even took dos Anjos down and controlled him a few seconds later. Luque briefly threatened with a standing arm triangle, but dos Anjos broke away just in time to eat an elbow and a few body kicks.

Luque used more control with his grappling in the third round, but went back to the middle midway through and ate a left and some kicks. Dos Anjos started to let his hands go a little more and found success, then shot for a takedown with 70 seconds left. Luque rolled through it and worked for a D’Arce choke and stayed out of danger.

The fourth and fifth rounds, it was evident Luque’s welterweight size may have been more suited for the long haul than dos Anjos’ welterweight size. In the fight, Luque had more than 10 minutes of control time, which was more than three times as much as dos Anjos – a statistic that would have been easy to predict would be flipped.

Luque snapped a two-fight skid in his return to the cage after a year away. Dos Anjos dropped his second fight back at welterweight after a win in his return to the division in 2022.

Up-to-the-minute UFC on ESPN 51 results include:

• Vicente Luque def. Rafael dos Anjos via unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47)
• Cub Swanson def. Hakeem Dawodu via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Khalil Rountree def. Chris Daukaus via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 2:40
• Iasmin Lucindo vs. Polyana Viana via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 2, 3:42
• AJ Dobson def. Tafon Nchukwi via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Josh Fremd def. Jamie Pickett via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Marcus McGhee def. JP Buys via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 2:19
• Terrence McKinney def. Mike Breeden via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:25
• Isaac Dulgarian def. Francis Marshall via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 4:48
• Martin Buday def. Josh Parisian via submission (kimura) – Round 1, 4:11
• Jaqueline Amorim def. Montserrat Conejo via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 3:41
• Da’Mon Blackshear def. Jose Johnson via submission (twister) – Round 1, 3:47
• Luana Santos def. Juliana Miller via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 3:41

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 51.