Nick Diaz’s Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) career isn’t over yet.
It was recently announced that the elder Diaz brother, 40, will return to action for a Welterweight clash against No. 13-ranked contender, Vicente Luque, in UFC Abu Dhabi’s co-main event next month (Sat., Aug. 3, 2024). By the time Diaz competes, it will have been nearly three full years since his last fight.
Diaz ended a six-year hiatus when he rematched Robbie Lawler at UFC 266 in September 2021. Unfortunately for the former Strikeforce Welterweight champion, he remained winless since 2011 when Lawler scored a third round technical knockout over Stockton, California’s finest. According to Diaz’s longtime teammate and friend, Jake Shields, he was out of the gym for almost all of that mixed martial arts (MMA) absence.
“He didn’t train at all for his Lawler fight,” Shields said on JAXXON PODCAST. “That fight shouldn’t have happened in my opinion. I’m not gonna get into too many details but I wasn’t too happy. I think he was kind of pressured into that so people could make money.
He went on to express his astonishment at the fact that he faced Robbie Lawler without any training in the past five years. This made him extremely nervous while watching the fight. Initially, he was afraid that his friend would be humiliated, but to his surprise, his friend put up a tremendous fight. Even though he ultimately lost, he managed to last two rounds and at one point, there was a glimmer of hope that he might even win. This incident demonstrated the unwavering determination and resilience he possessed, despite not having trained. However, the speaker mentioned that his friend is currently undergoing training, although the intensity of it is unknown.
While acknowledging that Diaz is better prepared for the upcoming match, Shields concedes that having more time for the bout would have been preferable. It is worth noting that since Diaz’s last fight, Luque’s record stands at 1-3 (22-10-1 overall).
