Nick Diaz’s Coach Worries About His UFC Return
Nick Diaz’s ex-coach, Cesar Gracie, is worried about his return to the UFC.
Diaz will fight at UFC Abu Dhabi on August 3 against Vicente Luque. This will be his first fight since getting beat at UFC 266 in 2021 against Robbie Lawler. He is scheduled to fight Luque in a five-round welterweight clash. Diaz has lost his prior four UFC fights, with his last win coming in 2011 at UFC 137. At 40 years old, it is a very tough task for Diaz.
Diaz has been training in Texas, a usual departure from where he usually does in Stockton, California. Nick’s brother, Nate Diaz, has been taking the spotlight recently, having beaten Jorge Masvidal in a rematch of their UFC 244 clash in boxing. Nick did not attend the fight, suggesting that he was focused on training with less than a month to go before the fight. While that may have been the case, Gracie has reservations about Nick’s preparation.
Gracie On Diaz
“Nick is a tough guy. But it just doesn’t make that much sense to me where Nick is at in his career. It’s not the fight I would have made, and don’t even know what’s going on with that fight, to be honest with you… It’s a toss-up what’s gonna happen. I don’t really see him training with fighters. And I don’t know what’s going on with that fight.
“He’s just not really part of the training with the guys right now. Like normally right now, he’d be training with Jake Shields. He’d be training with his brother. He would have been sparring. Nick was not there last night, for example, for Nate’s fight… No bad blood or anything whatsoever. It’s just I think that the people that are holding on to Nick right now in Texas wanna hold on to Nick. And so I hope they take good care of him,” Gracie said
Much in the same way, Nick’s brother, Nate, has also been absent from the UFC for some time. His last fight was a submission win against Tony Ferguson at UFC 279 in 2022. However, given that Ferguson has lost his last seven UFC fights, that is not a milestone win. Nate has been linked with a trilogy fight against Conor McGregor.
Nate Reacts
The Notorious is injured with a broken toe, although he is expected to fight Michael Chandler on his return. Nate also has other options. Following his victory over Masvidal, Gamebread wanted a rematch on neutral territory to complete a trilogy. Meanwhile, Diaz called out Jake Paul and Leon Edwards for rematches. But before he considers those bouts, he will support his brother. He has backed his brother to deliver the goods.
“Luque’s a fighter, he’ll come to fight. And you guys know Nick, so that’s what that is. You’re going to have a couple of animals in there. I don’t think there’s anybody better than Nick, so we’ll see what happens,” Nate revealed
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