Dana White should never book former champion for another match

On By Littum

Nick Diaz has reportedly pulled out of his UFC 310 fight against Vicente Luque, per MMA mania.

Diaz will be replaced on the card by Themba Gorimbo.

Diaz and his brother, Nate, are very popular in the MMA community, but at this point, Dana White and the UFC would be wise to refrain from booking Nick again.

It is unclear why Diaz has pulled out of the event, but a woman named Kay, believed to be his girlfriend, is being released a disturbing video of him. She followed the video with a post on Instagram hinting at drug problems.

The caption reads: “Drug addiction doesn’t last forever. You either find sobriety or it takes your life.”

We don’t know when this video was shot, nor has it been confirmed to be Diaz. Unfortunately, we know that Diaz has been increasingly difficult to keep on a card after being drafted.

Diaz, 41, is a former Strikeforce and WEC welterweight champion. However, he has not fought since Robbie Lawler stopped him in September 2021. Diaz was supposed to fight Luque in Abu Dhabi in July, but the former was pulled from the card.

There was some speculation that Diaz’s absence was due to visa issues. Some seemingly indisputable factors should have UFC matchmakers wondering if they should ever book Diaz for another fight.

Age is a significant factor. Even if Diaz had no other complications, his advanced age should give the UFC pause. When you add inactivity, there are even more reasons why Diaz might not be a good pick for matchmakers.

At this point, it would only make sense for Diaz to fight other legends far past their prime and perhaps in the same age group. While Luque is a veteran, he is nine years younger than Diaz. The age difference seemed to be a bit big from the beginning.

While there is a case to be made that Tony Ferguson, Donald Cerrone and Diego Sanchez should never fight again, if they ever crawl back into the Octagon, they should only fight each other and Diaz falls into the same category.

Because of Diaz’s availability issues, there should also be some hesitation in booking him for a fight with any of these guys.

Consider Luque in this situation. He has now prepared to fight Diaz twice, only to be told it won’t happen. That’s a tough deal for any potential opponent. Now Luque is locked in a battle with Gorimbo, a growing prospect in another part of his career.

Most importantly, if Diaz has personal and medical issues, he may need to focus on getting the help he needs to overcome them. Diaz is revered for his contributions to MMA, but it’s time to accept that his days as a competitor may be over.

This is where we are with the UFC 310 card now.

UFC 310 Main Event on ESPN+ PPV

  • Flyweight: UFC flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja vs. Kai Asakura
  • Welterweight: Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Ian Garry (five rounds)
  • Heavyweight: Cyril Gane vs. Alexander Volkov
  • Featherweight: Movsar Evloev vs. Aljamain Sterling
  • Welterweight: Themba Gorimbo vs. Vicente Luque

UFC 310 Prelims card on ESPN2/ESPN+

  • Light Heavyweight: Anthony Smith vs. Dominick Reyes
  • Lightweight: Chase Hooper vs. Clay Guida
  • Welterweight: Michael Chiesa vs. Max Griffin
  • Flyweight: Cody Durden vs. Joshua Van
  • Welterweight: Randy Brown vs. Bryan Battle
  • Heavyweight: Tallison Teixeira vs. Lukasz Brzeski
  • Heavyweight: Rizvan Kuniev vs. Martin Buday
  • Featherweight: Nate Landwehr vs. Doo Ho Choi

UFC’s upcoming schedule

The UFC invaded Madison Square Garden on Saturday night for UFC 309. You can watch the results from MSG here.

Next weekend’s scheduled matches are nothing to sneeze at, however. Take a look at the card scheduled for UFC Macau on November 23rd.

  • Petr Yan vs. Deiveson Figueiredo
  • Xiaonan Yan vs. Tabatha Ricci
  • Ozzy Diaz vs. Mingyang Zhang
  • Kenan Song vs. Muslim Salikhov
  • Cong Wang vs. Gabriella Fernandes
  • Volkan Oezdemir vs. Carlos Ulberg
  • Carlos Hernandez vs. Nyamjargal Tumendemberel
  • Xiaocan Feng vs. Ming Shi
  • Kiru Sahota vs. Dong Hoon Choi
  • Su Young You vs. Balgyn Jenisuly
  • Kangjie Zhu vs. Bin Xie
  • Lone’er Kavanagh vs. Jose Ochoa
  • Long Xiao vs. Quang Le
  • Maheshate Hayisaer Vs. Nicholas Motta

Keep an eye out for fight week coverage ahead of the Macau card.