During the UFC Vegas 94 broadcast, the promotion announced that UFC Abu Dhabi’s five-round co-mains would feature Nick Diaz’s return. But he couldn’t make the trip due to travel issues. Diaz vs. Vicente Luque scrapper was rescheduled for the UFC 310 PPV. However, an abrupt cancelation happened when troubling footage of a shirtless Diaz lighting grass on fire came out.
Even Diaz’s girlfriend had to weigh in when drug usage accusations were hurled, pending a return. The UFC Abu Dhabi and UFC 310 withdrawal cancelation will likely come at a cost. After some weeks give or take, the fighter finally broke his silence. Nick Diaz seemed to be enjoying himself in a now-defunct IG story, in Mexico.
Out here in Mexico, At a little retreat center over here with the chefs and all that…gonna hit up this jiu-jitsu gym they have out here somewhere. This guy Clark Gracie, I beat him in the U.S. Open way back when we were kids. He’s got his own gym out here, so I’m gonna go and try to jam that place up
Nick Diaz via IG stories (@nickdiaz209)
There have been concerns if the Team Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu fighter could return the same. The TKO loss to Robbie Lawler at UFC 266 showed a depleted Diaz. His fight with Lawler was a last-minute move from welterweight to middleweight and ended with Diaz not standing up in the third round. Soon, insider details revealed that the Stockton pride had barely trained for the fight and fought with a bad neck injury.
If a Mexico-bound Diaz (26-10 MMA, 7-7 UFC) does return, it’d be his second bout of the decade. Vicente Luque was keeping the option open of facing a name like Diaz. However, it’s quite up in the air if such a PPV billing happens any time soon.
UFC 310’s Vicente Luque puts Nick Diaz option beyond redemption after two scrapped fights
Vicente Luque is done with pursuing a fight with Diaz for good, at least for now. Luque was initially to make the bout against Nick Diaz at UFC on ABC 7, August in Abu Dhabi. There was a thin glimmer when that got pushed to UFC 310, at the tail end of the year.
Vicente Luque given up on Nick Diaz rebooking (Source: X)Luque instead matched up to then-surging welterweight contender Themba Gorimbo. Before UFC 310, the Brazilian fighter explained he had an inkling that the scrap would be off again. It is not a positive thing when one can read into the track records.
Maybe a week after the video, something like that, I’m not sure how long ago that is, …Me and Ali [Abdelaziz], my manager – we were talking about it. Without even the UFC saying anything, ‘Let’s try to reach out to them and make sure that something’s going on.’ … At this point, I don’t think it will happen again, …Maybe – who knows. But I’m up the division. I think that the Nick fight is past.
Vicente Luque during the UFC 310 Media Day fighter interviews
After the first Diaz fight was out the window, Luque hoped for a rebooking. But after the second fight fell through, “The Silent Assassin” is no longer holding up the hope banners. At this point, Diaz isn’t a stable option and hasn’t won a bout since defeating BJ Penn at UFC 137 in October 2011.
Since then, he went 0-2 with one no-contest. This includes losses to Carlos Condit and Georges St-Pierre in title fights, and a no-contest against Anderson Silva. It remains to be seen if the Stockton native ever competes to the UFC despite being under a contract.
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