Nick Diaz’s Welterweight bout against Vicente Luque has been cancelled.
The Welterweight bout was set to serve as the co-main event at UFC Abu Dhabi on August 3rd but the contest will no longer go ahead on that date, with the promotion looking to rebook the fight at the earliest opportunity.
The UFC have cited travel issues as the reason for the bout being cancelled.
The contest would’ve saw Diaz back in the UFC octagon for the first time since 2021, when he faced fellow MMA legend, Robbie Lawler at UFC 266. Prior to that, Diaz had not competed since 2015.
In his last outing, Lawler’s relentless pressure proved to be too much for Diaz who retired within the first minute of the third round.
After a four fight winning streak over 2020 and 2021, Luque has struggled to find consistent for as of late. The Brazilian picked up two losses in 2022 before getting back to winning ways in his only bout of 2023, against Rafael dos Anjos. Luque faced Joaquin Buckley but was stopped by ‘New Mensa’ in the second round.
With the Diaz vs. Luque bout off, Middleweights Shara Magomedov and Michal Oleksiejczuk will now square off in the co-main event slot.
‘Bullet’ Magomedov will be looking to keep his perfect record in tact in what will be his third fight for the promotion. On his path to the UFC, Magomedov went 11-0, with 10 stoppages.
In his promotional debut, Bruno Silva earned a unanimous decision at UFC 294. His last bout, which was only back in June, the 30-year-old stopped Antonio Trocoli in the second round with a stunning left hook.
Elsewhere on the card, Cody Sandhagen will meet Umar Nurmagomedov in a number one Bantamweight contender bout, in the main event. Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera, will face former Flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo. The card will also see the return of Tony Ferguson, when he squares off against Michael Chiesa.
