UFC Abu Dhabi‘s main card filled out this morning and some bangers have been added to the card. Dana White took to social media this morning and announced that fan-favorite Nick Diaz (26-10) will be returning and he’ll be taking on Vicente Luque (22-10-1) in the co-main event of the Abu Dhabi card.
UFC Abu Dhabi goes down on August 3rd. Starting with Luque, he’ll be looking to bounce back after his loss to Joaquin Buckley earlier this year. At the end of 2021, Luque had scored a win over Michael Chiesa which was his fourth win in a row and his octagon record was 14-2.
He was right in the title picture and then he ran into Belal Muhammad. Luque lost a decision and then he was brutally knocked out by Geoff Neal. After taking a year off, he returned with a win over Rafael Dos Anjos before losing to Buckley at UFC Atlantic City.
UFC Abu Dhabi
The Nick Diaz return comes completely out of left field. Diaz last fought in September 2021 where he was stopped by Robbie Lawler in the third round. Prior to that, Diaz hadn’t fought since 2015 when he had a No Contest against Anderson Silva.
In his prime, Diaz was one of the very best in the world. He had a close battle with Carlos Condit for the interim welterweight title and he also lost a title fight against GSP. Diaz is a former Strikeforce champion and he’s still one of the UFC’s biggest fan-favorites. There will be a ton of fans watching this return.