'I Hope He Seeks Help'

Today at 07:21 AM

The more Luque hears about the Nick Diaz situation, the more he hopes the former MMA champion gets the help he needs.

Vicente Luque is opening up on his cancelled fight against Nick Diaz, and "The Silent Assassin" had nothing but love and concern for Nick despite this being the second time Diaz has pulled out.

Originally Luque and Diaz were set to fight on an Abu Dhabi Fight Night card in August, but that was scrapped and moved back to December. But news came out over the weekend that Nick was out of the UFC 310 fight with Luque, who is now set to fight Themba Gorimbo instead.

Video purported to be of Diaz has circulated seeming to show the MMA legend attempting to light grass on fire in the street. Shortly after that popped up, an Instagram post from a former girlfriend tagged him and read "Drug addiction doesn't last forever. You either find sobriety, or it takes your life."

MMAMania.com is hearing disturbing reports on Diaz's current situation, but specifics have not been confirmed at this time. We're not down to speculate, and neither is Diaz's former opponent Luque.

"I don't know exactly why," Luque told MMAFighting.com of the fight cancellation. "I saw that video of him in the streets, and he didn't look OK. And more than anything, I hope his family and he is taking care of himself. I hope he recovers and goes back to his best state possible."

"When I saw the video, first, I didn't know if it was a recent video or not," he continued. "But I kept thinking, if it's recent, I hope he really seeks help to get out of the situation he's in because Nick is a fighter I followed since before I was in the UFC. He has inspired me a lot in the past. What he's done, fighting legends like B.J. Penn, Georges St-Pierre, Anderson Silva, Carlos Condit, many big names."

"You see his accomplishments, and see his state at 40 years of age, that's not how I want to see any fighter."

Diaz has fought for most of the major MMA promotions over the years and was one of the biggest stars in the early 2000s era of the sport. He disappeared from the spotlight after a 2015 loss to Anderson Silva, returning once in 2021 for an ill-advised rematch with Robbie Lawler. After quitting a minute into round 3, reports emerged that he fought with bulging discs in his neck.

Since then Nick has said he's healthy and wanted to get to a place where he could fight top names in the UFC again. As it stands, he's in no shape to fight at all.

"It's very sad to see him at that stage, because I don't want that for anyone, much less a man that has inspired so many," Luque said. "If I see he's not doing well, especially in a case like Nick Diaz's, I just wish him the best. If he had made it to the fight, we would have fought and I would do what I'm supposed to do there, but it's clear that's why it was cancelled. He not in the condition [to fight], and I hope he recovers."