Booking a rather surprising comeback to the Octagon later this summer following nearly three-years of inactivity, former welterweight title challenger, Nick Diaz reportedly had targeted a slew of opponents to share the stage with, before signing to fight Vicente Luque at UFC Abu Dhabi in August.
Diaz, a former undisputed and interim welterweight title challenger under the banner of the promotion, is slated to co-headline UFC Fight Night Abu Dhabi at the beginning of August in a welterweight return against the above-mentioned, Luque, over the course of five rounds.
Sidelined since making a 2021 comeback, Diaz’s most recent outing came in the form of an impromptu middleweight clash against former welterweight champion, Robbie Lawler, dropping a third round TKO defeat to the veteran in their rematch.
Nick Diaz targeted Georges St-Pierre comeback fight
And booking his comeback alongside former interim lightweight champion, Tony Ferguson yesterday at UFC Abu Dhabi in August, Diaz – according to reporter, Ariel Helwani, had pushed for a slew of other fights first, including a rematch with Georges St-Pierre, and a specific UFC 300 return against Colby Covington.
“This has been in the works for quite some time,” Helwani said on The MMA Hour. “I’ve been told, Nick (Diaz) has been pushing for a GSP fight, didn’t come to fruition., He was then pushing for a Colby Covington fight at UFC 300, didn’t come to fruition. He then – after ‘MVP’s debut and win at [UFC] 299, pushed for that fight no the June 29th, Conor McGregor card, UFC 303 – didn’t come to fruition.”
“He then pushed for Keinv Holland on the June 29th. Card, and thought that was going to be the one,” Helwani continued. “But as you know, it didn’t come to fruition… They said, ‘What about Vicente Luque in Abu Dhabi?’, initially he didn’t want to go overseas. I’m told the people in Abu Dhabi want Nick Diaz.”
Are you happy to see Nick Diaz land UFC Abu Dhabi comeback?