Nick Diaz is back. UFC CEO Dana White announced that Diaz will compete for the first time in nearly three years, taking on Vicente Luque at UFC Fight Night in Abu Dhabi on Aug. 3.
White announced on Wednesday that Luque vs. Diaz is scheduled as a five-round co-main event. Diaz, 40, has not competed since losing a lifeless TKO to Robbie Lawler at UFC 266 in September 2021. Prior to that, Diaz hadn’t fought since losing a unanimous decision to Anderson Silva in 2015 that was later overturned to no-contest. Diaz has not won a mixed martial arts fight since beating BJ Penn in 2011.
Luque is on a rough stretch but has youth and power on his side. Luque is eight years younger than Diaz and has generally fought Top 15 UFC welterweights for several years. Luque is currently on a 1-3 skid with losses to Joaquin Buckley, Geoff Neal and Belal Muhammad with the lone win coming against Rafael dos Anjos.
Cory Sandhagen vs. Umar Nurmagomedov headlines the Fight Night. The winner will likely be on the shortlist for bantamweight title challengers as White has deemed it a No. 1 contenders bout. White also announced the following fights for the Abu Dhabi main card: Marlon Vera vs. Deiveson Figueiredo, Tony Ferguson vs. Michael Chiesa and Mackenzie Dern vs. Loopy Godinez.
